Black With A T
by Xtyne
Summary: Tess McMahon shocked the world when she signed a TNA contract. However, it was hardly the job she thought it would be. Fighting an unbeatable battle, finding unlikely allies, and falling in love, Tess may just come to regret her decision.
1. Prologue

**Prologue:**

Children from prestigious families are always portrayed by their parents and their siblings if there are any. They are never utilized for themselves. For their own skills. They are never looked upon as their own person, as different from their family. They are seen by the positive and the faults of those of their family members. Their faults are always highlighted and blamed on you, although it was a time you weren't even present. You would be nothing like that family, but since you are of that last name, you would become that name. No other way will they look at you. You will always be seen as another member of that family.

This is what it means to be the third and youngest child in the McMahon family.

My family is well known by most in the wrestling industry. We're wealthy, powerful, and are hated by most in our company. But yet we're still at the top. Or well, my family is, not myself. My father, Vincent Kennedy McMahon has made a name for himself in the wrestling industry…The Bastard. My mom and sister; The Bitches. And my brother; The Rich Brat. I wouldn't have a name, as I was never really present a lot in the wrestling industry. Sure I was talked about at a few times, but never really seen. But nether less, I was the one to get the pressure, the one to get the heat. I was a McMahon, another part in the most hated family in the WWE, and most possibly the wrestling industry today. I didn't really have a say in what my future held, in who I was.

I grew up in the wrestling business. I had always loved watching the sport at home, or going to work with my dad on a few occasions. I never got lost from it. It was in my blood. I suppose as the youngest of the McMahon clan, it would only be years until I would reach the World Wrestling Entertainment family. I was even on my way to achieving what everyone had known was to be expected. I started when I was 16, and by I was 19 I was in OVW, and by the time I was 20 I was just about to sign a contract with my families own company as a full fledged women's wrestler (something my family members aren't truly). But that all changed in a matter of minutes.

It was at this time, I began to drift away from my family. My father actually even shunned me from the family due to it.

About a day before I was to sign a contract and be the new Raw diva, I caught a phone call that was directed towards me. A friend of mine from high school was contacting me about this other wrestling promotion. One I had heard about briefly and had only seen about a dozen of times before. She had worked there for about a year, and knew of my wrestling ability, knowing I was at the top of my league in OVW and would be in the WWE. She also knew that I was to sign a contract the next day. As she was one of the talent reps for this promotion, she only saw fit to try to get me to enter her world, not the one I had grown up in. Intrigued, I had promised to meet her the next day before my meeting with my father…

_"You have a lot of talent Tess." She had told me after we greeted each other. "I know you have an obligation, but think about this offer."_

_"I don't know, I mean it's not like my father would be thrilled. And anyways, there wouldn't be much for a woman to do there would there? The handful of times I've seen it, there were mostly only men there." I had told her reasonably._

_She had sighed then before looking at me intently. "Yet I know how much you take a part in fighting the males. Isn't that right though?"_

_"It might be." I had told truthfully, knowing it was a far better challenge then fighting women._

_"Well let's just say we don't have as many rules here. At WWE, not much men/women action right? We take wrestling to the next level, anything you want, you pretty much get." She smirked at me, knowing I would have taken interest in that part._

_That was the time of the meeting I leant farther towards her in my chair. I had always loved extreme cases, but god knows WWE was far from being that extreme now a days._

_"I see you're intrigued. Tess, I know you. I know you want adventure and challenge. I also know you love the WWE, but think about this opportunity. I know it isn't as bit as the WWE, but wouldn't you have more fun being able to be yourself and be different from your family instead of having to be recognized and taken seriously just because your family is the boss of them? Think about it." She told me, standing up._

_I thought then. I was having an inner battle with myself. I was intrigued by the offer. It was true, I did like challenge, I loved extreme anything. And most of all, I hated being the boss. She was right that in the WWE, opponents wouldn't see me as a wrestler but more as the boss. But here, I would be just another competitor. Yes sure my father would kill me if he found out, but isn't this the answer to all my wants of freedom and to be my own person for once?_

_It was then that the answer struck my mind. It was an answer I sometimes regret to this day._

_"You've got yourself a deal."_

I still remember that day today. It was the day my life changed. At the time, I thought it had changed for the better. But today, I truthfully wished I never signed that contract to become the new diva in NWA TNA.


	2. Chapter One

**Chapter One:**

"Your sure about this right?" I asked that good friend of mine from high school.

"I'm totally right Tess. Don't worry about it. You'll do fine. Just go in and be yourself. I'll introduce you to a few guys I know all right. But the rest is up to you." Carrie Flair told me, patting my back before directing me towards a rather large room that resembled a school cafeteria.

"I don't know…"I said nervously.

"Oh come on, if you can face your father in saying your not signing with the WWE but with TNA, I'm sure you can do this. Now go on." She lightly pushed me along.

I sighed deeply but entered ever so slowly through the doors, getting my first real view of most of the superstars in TNA. It was overwhelming to say the least. Sure, their whole roster is about the size of Raw or Smackdown's, but I knew most of those from the WWE, I only know a few, if any from here. Sure there were the few that had come from the WWE, like Jeff Hardy, and Rhino, but they kind of left on a bad case with the company, and seeing as I'm a McMahon, not the favourite person for them to meet.

"Come on, there's AJ over there, he was the first guy I ever met backstage here. He's really friendly. Come on stop being so nervous, I thought you were the girl who didn't fear anything. Show me that side of you alright." Carrie told me, taking my right arm and motioning over to a table to the near right. "It'll be fine."

I wasn't exactly sure about that, but I followed nonetheless. It was nerve racking, as we passed people and their tables, heads popped up, noticing a new woman amongst them all.

"AJ, hey." She greeted a young man sitting alone at a table.

"Carrie, what's up?" he looked up and smiled warmly.

As I took a good look at the man, I noticed he had these intense blue eyes. I was almost caught off guard by them. They were that intense, it was as if I was looking at an ocean of some sort. They were that blue.

"Oh not much." Carrie returned the smile to the light brown haired, blue-eyed man sitting in front of us. "I'd like you to meet Tess. She's going to be the newest TNA wrestler. Just signed a contract last week."

AJ flashed a smile at me before standing up and stretching out a hand for me to shake. I was hesitant at first but withdrew my on hand from my pants pocket and shook his hand.

"AJ Styles, nice to meet you." He greeted me.

I nodded at him slowly. "Yeah."

"She a shy one?" he rose an eyebrow at Carrie.

Carrie chuckled. "First time I've ever seen this girl act a bit shy."

"Must be because she's meeting the great one then." AJ smirked at Carrie and then quickly at me.

I rolled my eyes but laughed all the same. I knew cocky people, but this guy was just way too much.

"What your disagreeing?" he asked, pretending to be shocked.

I just answered with an eye roll before averting my eyes to wander around the room.

"Apparently she is. Oh hey, I have to go meet Dixie in 5 minutes. Could you maybe show Tess here around and all AJ?" Carrie asked.

"Yeah sure, no problem. I'll be happy to." AJ smiled before turning his full attention on me, his intense blue eyes digging through my own green ones.

"Alright thanks. I'll talk to you sometime later Tess ok? And don't worry it'll be fine." She told me before patting my back and walking away.

"So shall we then?" AJ asked me, gesturing towards the door.

I shrugged. I'm taking a suppose that this was a yes answer as AJ started to lead the way out of the room.

"So what's you last name, or do you happen to be as great as Cher and Madonna and don't need one?" AJ asked as we walked.

I hesitated for a moment. Not sure if I should say anything. I had a feeling that once I did; I wasn't going to be very excepted back stage.

"Well? It's not like you're a member of the mafia or something. Or man, that would be crazy if you were like from one of WWE's main wrestler's family. Ha, could you believe if a McMahon was here. Damn that would kill." AJ laughed.

I laughed nervously.

"Wait." AJ stopped and looked at me closely. "You're not are you?"

I started to fidget, not knowing what else to do.

"Please tell me you're not a McMahon."

"I wont." I said in a small voice.

"Damn." He breathed, running a hand through his short hair before looking back down at me. "So why are you here?"

"To wrestle." I told him like it was obvious.

"No, I mean, why are you here in TNA when your family owns the WWE. Doesn't make sense." AJ stated.

I shrugged my shoulders. I got that question over and over again as I was making the announcement that I wouldn't be attending the WWE. I never had a full answer either.

"I don't know. A better chance here I guess." I answered slowly.

"But wouldn't it be a lot easier to be in the WWE?" AJ asked.

"That's the thing, it would be. TNA is a challenge, I like challenges, I don't want to be handed everything in my life. I want to work for something and feel proud that I did it without my families help." I answered, more to myself then to answer his question.

AJ nodded a touch. "Alright, that's reasonable enough. Well just a warning. People back here don't exactly love WWE. There have been rumors that there's a mole back here sending info in and out. So we're not exactly trustworthy of anyone in or around the WWE."

"I kind of figured I wouldn't exactly be liked. Could you do me a favour and not tell a lot of people. I want to live at least maybe a day without glares for once." I begged of him.

"Yeah no problem. Oh and I don't care that you're a McMahon. My mom was this really amazing genius and athlete at my old high school and university, and I was always judged, everyone expecting me to be just like her. So I take it upon myself not to judge others by their last name and family relations." AJ informed me as we began to walk again.

"Thanks. Although I just met you, it means a lot to know that." I told him as I followed his lead.

"No problem newbie. Oh this is one of the tunnels to the ring. This is for the faces; the one on the other side is used for the heels. Or at least it usually is like this. Sometimes everyone just comes out of whichever tunnel is closer to them. Some people are just lazy." AJ showed me.

I smiled slightly as I looked through the tunnel, spotting the six-sided ring on the other side. I was sort of amazed at how it looked. I mean as I grew up in the WWF/WWE, the only type of ring I knew of was the four sided one. This was completely new and different.

"Taking as you're new, wanna go check it out. It usually amazes or freaks the new ones out." AJ asked, watching me with slight amusement.

"Sure." I said with slight excitement.

AJ chuckled before leading me through the short tunnel and out into the arena part of the TNA studio. My eyes flew to every part of the place that was visible. I wasn't all that used to wrestling in small places like this. I mean even OVW was in a bit bigger place then this. But it was amazing all the same. As AJ got to the ring, he showed me up the stairs and through the ropes. Once I was standing in that ring, I felt like I belonged here. It was a weird feeling, but it felt just so right.

"So what do you think?" AJ asked, watching me closely.

I looked around once more before smiling and looking at him. "It's wicked."

"I'll take that as a good thing." AJ smiled back

"What in the world are you doing here Miss. Teressa McMahon?" a familiar voice carried down to the ring.

I looked over and my eyes widened and sparked as I saw Jeff Hardy. Jeff and I had a weird bond. Ever since he and his brother came to the WWE awhile back around 2000 or so, Jeff and I were friends. I was only starting to train as a wrestler around that time, but Jeff was just one of those people that I got along with greatly backstage. I was really sad to see him go when he left years later. But we kept into contact. We talked at least once or twice a week on either the phone or by email. It was a friendship I was glad I had, and thankful for definitely right now.

"Jeff!" I hugged him as he climbed into the ring.

Jeff chuckled as he returned the hug.

"So what are you doing here Tess?" Jeff asked as he put me at arms length, taking a good look at me. "And you've definitely grown up. You're looking a lot more mature then that cute little 15, 16 year old girl you were when I first met ya." He smiled.

I rolled my eyes before looking at him. Blue, purple, sand red hair, same physique, and same clothes. He didn't change a bit.

"Well I can't say the same for you. You haven't changed at all Mr. Tie-dye. And guess whose your new TNA wrestler." I said with a bit of pride.

"No! Seriously!" Jeff said astounded. "That I didn't expect. What happened? You were doing great in OVW, about to go to WWE. And thanks for telling me till now."

I laughed. "No problem. And I wanted a change. And I got a better deal. I get to be able to do stuff my way, not my fathers way"

Jeff cocked his head to the side before grinning. "Well I'm glad. Surprised, but very glad. Now I'll actually be able to spend sometime with my fav M McMahon. Okay, well the only McMahon that I liked anyways."

I laughed.

"Ah, wanna clue me in?" AJ asked from behind us, looking mighty confused.

"Jeff and I know each other from when he first started in the WWE, well WWF at that time." I informed him, turning slightly so I could face AJ.

Jeff put his arm around my shoulders. "Yep me and this girl go way back. I swear she was the only one who stood up for me and made everyone clear that I was not taking drugs. Owe her still for that one."

"Yeah you do actually. Got into some nasty fights with people over that." I smiled up at him teasingly.

Jeff chuckled.

"So what are you doing in the ring with Mr. perfect here." Jeff asked me.

"He's been subject to showing me around by Carrie." I informed him.

"Ah crazy girl that one. I still remember that time you and Carrie wanted to show your fathers up and died your hair to look like min. damn, your father and Flair were furious over that." Jeff laughed.

"I remember that. Heh, good times." I chuckled.

"Ahem." AJ coughed, trying to get our attention.

"Yes Mr. Perfect?" Jeff asked with a slight smirk.

I chuckled before turning my attention over to AJ.

"Thought I told you not to call me that Hardy." AJ crossed his arms.

"Nope, I don't recall Styles." Jeff smirked.

I rolled my eyes slightly.

"Don't mind him." I hit Jeff in the gut softly. "Should we return to the very badly made tour you were giving me?"

AJ smiled slightly. "Yeah come on."

"Wanna come along?" I asked Jeff.

"Nah." Jeff told me. "I gotta go see Zbyszko about some matches. I'll catch up to you later. Hey where are you staying by the way?"

"I was planning on the super 8 hotel 10 minutes or so away." I said pathetically.

"You're a McMahon and you're staying in a low hotel. Ironic really." Jeff shook his head. "Well sorry to inform you, but you're gonna stay with me. No way is my Mcgirl gonna stay in a neighborhood like that."

I squealed and hugged Jeff tightly. "Thanks Jeff. You're sure?"

Jeff smiled and nodded. "Yeah I'm sure. Now go get that bad tour of yours. I'll talk to ya later Mckid.

I smiled once more before leaving the ring with AJ. I waved at him with my back turned as I walked up the ramp and through the tunnel.

"So anyone else here I should know about you knowing so I don't get all confused when someone walks by and you start hugging them rapidly?" AJ asked,

I racked my brain as I smiled slightly. "Rhino, Gail Kim, members of team 3d I think they're called now, maybe raven, maybe Kip James, and maybe BG James."

"How do you know BG James?" AJ asked as we continued to walk backstage.

"Good old D-Generation X. god that was a most hilarious time in the WWE." I laughed.

"Did someone say DX?" another familiar voice asked as we turned a corner.

"Good to see you again BG James, or should I say Road Dog." I smiled at him.

"My god why if it isn't the youngest McMahon." BG James looked me up and down. "Last time I saw you, you were only a kid."

"Hey 14 were not kid years." I defended.

"So what are you doing here?" BG asked

"About to kick ass and take names. I'm TNA's new wrestler." I grinned

"Holy. Never thought I'd see the day. Well we're definitely gonna get better than WWE now that we have you." BG smiled. "Oh these are my boys Ron "The Truth" Killings, and Konnan. Guys this is Tess McMahon, the last McMahon."

Ron and Konnan nodded at me before going back to their conversation. BG shook his head but smiled all the same.

"It's good to see you again." BG told me. "Can't wait to see you actually perform."

"It's good to see you again too. And I can't wait to personally kick some real ass. I guess I should go, AJ here was showing me around. See you around?" I asked.

"Definitely, see ya kid." BG nodded as he turned and returned into his conversation.

"Can we continue?" AJ asked.

I chuckled. "Yeah, sorry about that."

"No prob. Back onto the tour…"

* * *

A/N: such a long time since i've updated. alright, so i actually was writing this story, i was just writing more of the middle then the actual beginning. but i gotta say, it gets really exciting in the later chapters. so i promise no more middle writing unless its really exciting. X out.


	3. Chapter Two

**Chapter Two:**

"You don't know how happy I am that Ms. Flair got you to sign a contract for us." Larry Zbyszko stated, sending me a grateful smile. "It feels good to know just how easily it is to take people away from the WWE. Especially the daughter of the owner of the company."

I smiled slightly. He truly had no idea. In the last few months, guys from the WWE have had less of a grand time. Money from paychecks were being cut, TV time was being cut from the cruiserweights just to let the big heavyweights who couldn't wrestle have time to shine, and they were driving names like Chris Jericho away from the business. Yes, TNA in the next few months was going to be slightly surprised at how many people from the WWE will come knocking at his door for a new job.

"Now I am unfortunate to say I'm not all that positive on how the roster is going to take to you being a part of TNA. We've had a lot of people from WWE here, like Rhino and team 3D, but as you probably already know, their not liked by everyone, and most importantly Jeff Jarrett, who a lot of the boys tend to follow from fear." Larry warned me truthfully.

I nodded. I already knew about this topic. I knew from the moment I had signed the contract that I was going to be going through a bit of a rough time. Though I held my hopes high that everyone would see me as me, and not another McMahon brat.

"Though I believe you'll do just fine. You're an am zing competitor, and just what we need for our women's division, which we plan on forming in the next few months. Which this actually brings me to where you'll be standing in the company until then." He started, rummaging around his desk until he found a bundle of papers that he handed off to me. "You'll start as a manager. I'm sure you've heard of Christopher Daniels?"

I nodded slowly; trying to remember him from the few shows I had gotten from Carrie before I arrived. I slowly started to remember him. On the tapes, he seemed a bit cocky, like he was king of the world, the fallen angel, Mr. TNA. But his talent rocked right over his ego. He was definitely a worthy X Division competitor.

"Good. You're going to become his Manager for the time being. I'm pretty sure he wont like it, but I think it'll be good for his career not to have to think for himself all of the time. Not to mention he'll be a good trainer for you to get you into the roll of things in TNA. Oh that must be him now." Larry noted, talking about the knock that had just sounded from the other side of his office door. "Come in!"

The office door swung open and in stepped a tall, lean fitted man. A scowl was placed on his lips as his dark eyes darted to me for a slight moment before going back to Larry.

"Thanks for coming Chris. If you could…" Larry started.

"Hurry it up Zbyszko, I'm a busy man. I have a match to prepare for." The man growled impatiently as he sat roughly in the seat next to mine.

Larry coughed for a moment before returning to his authority figure. "Chris, I would like you to meet Tess McMahon, you're new manager. Tess, this is…"

"WHAT!" Christopher Daniels yelled.

"As I was saying, Tess this is…"

"I am not having a manager Zbyszko!" he stated glaring deeply at the man on the other side of the desk.

"Look Daniels, I'm in charge around here. It's time you start thinking about other people. I think this will be a good learning experience for you. You never know, she might just be able to help you regain your title back." Larry said sharply.

Christopher Daniels breathed in and out sharply before standing up and storming out of the room.

"Sorry about him. He's been in a bad mood ever since AJ Styles won the X-Division title from him. It's nothing personal to you." Larry told me apologetically.

"I've dealt with worse tempers." I spoke for the first time since I entered the room. "So that's Christopher Daniels then?"

Larry nodded. "Those papers I handed you earlier is a script I suppose. But be warned, unlike WWE, our scripts are broken more than once on a show. So expect some unexpected things to happen out there. The scripts are mostly just guidelines on what will be happening, it's mostly up to what's actually happening that makes out what the end result will be."

I nodded, slightly nervous now. I was used to scripts being followed, but here, it didn't happen all the time.

"But don't worry. Why don't you try to catch up with Daniels and try to get to know him? You'll debut on the second taping tonight, so you'll still have some time to prepare." Larry stated, standing up.

I stood up and shook his outstretched hand.

"Thanks for this opportunity." I thanked him before turning around with my script in my hands. "I appreciate it."

I then walked out of the room, searching for a sign of the angry man that I was to be working with for the next little while. I unfortunately enough saw no one around, no signs of where he had gone. I sighed before starting down the hallway to the right. I might as well start looking for him the best way I could. Randomly guessing. I think it was just pure luck that I ran into someone I already knew. Literally.

"Whoa, watch it." AJ said as I bumped into him. "Oh it's you, what's up McMahon?"

"Sorry, really sorry. And could ya not say my name so loud?" I asked him in an apologetic manner.

"Sorry to burst your bubble, but there's a roster meeting in like thirty minutes, supposing they wanna talk to us about you being the new addition. Everyone will know by tonight's tapings." AJ told me.

"Damn." I mumbled, my spirits breaking slightly before remembering why I had run into him by accident. "Oh well, still have at least thirty minutes before I get noticed way too much. Oh by the way you wouldn't by chance know where Christopher Daniels is would ya?"

AJ's right eyebrow lifted. "He just stormed off in the direction." AJ pointed behind him. "Why'd ya wanna know?"

"Guess who gets to be his new manager." I stated dryly.

"Woo, good luck with that one." AJ breathed, shocked slightly.

I smiled slightly. "So that way?"

"That way would do it, once you get to the next corner though, you're on your own. I'd try going to his locker room, he most likely would be in there, either that or at the ring, or the gym, or he could be getting scripts or stuff, or…" AJ rambled on.

"Or you could stop giving me places to go to." I told him, rolling my eyes.

"Sorry." He apologized. "Just work yourself down and look into any open doors, you'll find him eventually. This aint that huge of a place."

I sighed. "Joy. Well I better go start now, catch ya later? And sorry again for the bumping into you thing."

"Yeah no prob, and yeah, see ya." AJ waved as he maneuvered around me.

I chuckled before walking down the way AJ had been coming from. I took his advice, and I just began to look into any open doors. I was just thankful that this place wasn't as big as any of the arenas and stadiums that the WWE went into. That'll at least cut this whole thing in half. Of course, you never really begin to understand how big one place can really be from just looking at the outside.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't a McMahon." An unfamiliar voice came from behind me.

I twirled around to meet the face of Jeff Jarrett, who I watched from the tapes Carrie had sent me.

"How do you know who I am?" I asked quickly.

Jarrett smirked. "Surprised you don't remember me. I used to work for your money loving bastard father."

I quickly remembered him, though not by much.

"Oh, uh huh, right. Totally remember you now." Kind of lying.

Jarrett stepped forward. "Let me get this straight out. I don't like your family, meaning I don't like you. I don't know why you're here, but its sort of suspicious. Know that I will never like you and neither will anyone backstage. I run this show, I run these people, and I run who they like and who they don't like. I will make your life a living hell, a little payback for your dear father."

I looked at him, shocked, before shaking my thoughts and glaring up at him.

"Thanks for the heads up. But as you know, McMahon never back down from a challenge or a fight, so know this when I say, if you mess with me, you're gonna get a hell load back." I shot back before twisting around and walking down the hall, my head held high.

As soon as I turned a corner and spied that Jarrett had left, I leant against the wall, thinking about what had just happened. I somewhat remember him from WWE days, well probably WWF back then. He was rude, money greedy, egoistical little bastard that always had my father angry, even more so then Steve Austin did, which is saying something. I groaned slightly, knowing my life here at TNA just got a million times worse.

* * *

**A/N: alright, another chapter has been added. yeah, ive kind of written most of the middle, which is good cause once i get the next chapter or so out, i'll just have to add chapters without writing them. so thats always a good thing. anyways, its a bit short but hey it starts out the main plot a bit. hope you all like.**


	4. Chapter Three

**_D _**is Don West

**_M _**is Mike Tenay

**_POV off/on _**is the change between first and third person.

**Chapter Three**

"Let me make this perfectly clear." Daniels shot at me as he glared down at me.

After my get away from our favourite Jarrett, I had found Daniels in his locker room, where I was also supposed to use as mine as well. I knocked on the door only to face an angry Christopher Daniels, ready to twist the neck of anyone at that moment. He immediately sat me down, glaring at me the whole time, ready to make his argument.

"I will not like you, I will not talk to you unless I have to. You will not talk to me unless you have to. You will ultimately keep away from me and stay the hell out of my way during matches. About the training part that Zbyszko stated about, I will do that, but let me warn you, I won't go easy on you just because you're a McMahon or you're a girl. So don't complain or whine." Daniels told me rudely.

I coughed slightly at the arrogance of this man.

"Tonight on the second taping you'll run in and help me before my match ends, understand. Do not run down until I ask for you. You'll know when I want you." Daniels informed me. "Get ready, I'll be back later."

I watched with a raised eyebrow as he stalked out of the room.

"Joy I'm dealing with a jackass." I sighed.

I shrugged anyways as I grabbed my ring attire which consisted on fitted black pants with grommet accents, rings, removable black straps, and a pink plain ribbon accents; and a black fitted tee that held the words 'trouble' in white. I quickly changed; knowing Daniels had left to go to that roster meeting, probably to talk about me. I sighed a bit, knowing my run in TNA was going to be a lot harder then I initially thought. But I struck my thoughts out of my mind and decided to go find Carrie.

* * *

POV off

* * *

D- "this is one hell of a match going on right now. Daniels had the upper hand on Styles for the first half of this match, but now Styles has come back."

M- "that's right Don. AJ just did an amazing dive onto Daniels from ropes. He's going for a clothesline now…oh! And the ref is knocked out."

D- "I have a feeling this isn't good. Look at that, Daniels gave Styles a low blow. This match is turning around quickly just from that. Wait, what's Daniels doing. He looks as if he's motioning towards the tunnel."

M- "is he asking for someone? Wait, whose this?"

* * *

POV on

* * *

I waited as I watched the monitor just beside the heel tunnel, waiting for any sign of Daniels wanting me to run in. finally, after what seemed like ever, Daniels held up two of his fingers, pointed them at the heel ramp and beckoned me down. I breathed in and out, this being my first time ever going out there. But I shook my nerves off and quickly walked up through the tunnel and entered the impact zone.

* * *

POV off

* * *

D- "who is that?"

M- "I don't know Don. Is she apart of the roster even? Oh what's this?"

The mysterious girl that no one knew came running down the ramp, and slid into the ring. Daniels smirked at her before holding Styles in place. The girl nodded at him before claiming the back of Styles head as I turned forward and knocked his body to the mat, his head diving into the mat. It looked like an RKO to those familiar with the WWE, only backwards. A reel of boos fell through the arena as the girl moved the ref so he could see Daniels pinning Styles.

"1…2…3" the ref counted.

"And your winner of the match, Christopher Daniels!"

Daniels smirked and posed in the ring, taunting the crowd. The mysterious girl then slid back into the ring and raised Daniels' arm in victory, shocking all of the impact viewer's from around the world.

* * *

POV on

* * *

"Good job tonight." Jeff smiled at me as we neared his apartment door.

"Thanks." I retorted as I watched him opening the door.

"Welcome to your new home." Jeff ushered me in.

I walked in slowly with one of my bags, Jeff holding the other. I looked around, it was slightly larger than I had expected from such a place. It was pretty roomy though. A living room was right there to the right as you entered the apartment, holding a couch and two chairs with a TV on the far wall. To the right as you enter was a nice size kitchen, holding a wall of counters, drawers, cupboards and a stove. Next to that wall was a fridge as well as a touch more counter space. Included in the nice sized kitchen was a middle island, big enough to hold about 4 people around it, sitting on the including stools. Straight ahead through the hallway looked to be a bathroom, which had a small vicinity.

"Here, let me show you to your room." Jeff motioned me to follow him.

I nodded and did just that, walking past the living room and kitchen and into the small hallway into the next part of the apartment. Four more doors lines the wall, all in a linear pattern. As before, in front of us straight away was the bathroom, but to the left of that were two doors, one that Jeff walked towards. On the other side of the bathroom, I spotted what appeared to also be another bedroom due to the small twin bed that was in it.

"Here you go. My rooms down the hall that way. And the one next to yours is a spare." Jeff informed me, placing my bags on the ground beside the double bed. "It's not much, but its home."

"Its nice." I faced him after taking a glance at the room. The bed was facing the door, beside a two-frame window. Beside it was a nightstand, which was clean and empty. To the left was a large looking closet, and on the opposite wall was a desk.

"Thanks again for letting me stay here Jeff." I hugged him quickly.

Jeff laughed. "No problem, anyways, someone else to help pay rent right?"

I nodded with a grin, as we broke apart.

"Well I'll leave you to your unpacking. I'm going to go get myself something to eat. You want anything?" he asked, moving towards the door.

I shook my head. "Naw, I'm probably just going to unpack before hitting the sack. I'm pretty tired."

Jeff nodded. "Alright, well night then. If you need anything you know where I am."

"Night."

* * *

"Tess, phone." Jeff knocked on my door two days later, early morning.

I groaned as I sat up from my place on my bed. I checked my alarm clock before groaning louder. Having someone call me at 8 am when I didn't work wasn't very exciting. Nonetheless I stumbled out of bed and to the door, opening to face a wide-awake Jeff, dressed and everything for the day already.

"How can you be awake at this time in the morning?" I asked him.

He shrugged with a smile. "Here."

"Thanks." I took the phone in his outstretched hand. "I officially hate whoever it is."

"That's kind of mean considering who it is." Jeff commented before walking back into what I presumed would be the living room or kitchen.

I sighed before flipping the light on in my room and plopping down on my bed.

"Hello?" I asked in the phone, stifling a yawn.

"What, I can't get a more energetic greeting from you?" Terry Gerin (Rhino) laughed from the other end.

"Terry? Ugh, nice to hear from you and all but it's eight in the morning. You should remember I'm not a morning person." I groaned, yet happy to hear from Terry, as he had actually been one of the people who had helped train me.

Terry laughed again. "And you know from training that I never cared about your sleeping patterns. Anyways, wouldn't you rather spend the rest of the morning and day with some old friends?"

My mind perked up. I had almost forgot about the others I had known backstage. I mentally hit myself for my stupidity.

"Well maybe, but depends. Now if you're talking about going sky diving…"

"How many times do I have to tell you I will never go sky diving, or bungee jumping? Do that with Jeff, but leave me out of it." Terry groaned.

I grinned. It was an inside joke between the two of us from a few years back. It was his day to train me (I had a revolving schedule with my trainers), but her decided to give me a day off, letting me choose something to do to relax. So I ultimately, as Jeff got me into it, chose skydiving. Terry of course said no, and every other time after that, he kept saying the same. It was my goal to eventually make the man go with me. Even if it had to kill me to do so.

"Alright, alright. So who makes up this old friend group?" I asked with a chuckle.

"Me of course. You're favourite tag team…"he started to say before I interrupted.

"APA is here? Wow…" I teased, knowing it would push Terry's buttons for naming the tag team that he hated back in WWE.

"Don't even go there Tess." He said with a twist of disgust. "Ray and Devon."

My eyes brightened, they truly were my favourite tag team.

"Sweet, haven't seen those two in forever." I stated with a smile.

Terry chuckled. "That's the point. Oh and you remember Scott Levy right, Raven?"

"Of course, my father hated me liking the guy. I think I was one of the few people backstage in WWE that actually talked to him and praised him." I remembered.

"Well he remembers you too, so we figured you'd like to see him again, keep the knit group together." he trailed off a bit.

"Let me take a gander, I'm not well liked because I'm a McMahon in TNA." I guessed.

"Yeah, stupid, but yeah. But hey, at least you still got some people." He stated.

"Yeah that's true. Better than nothing. Alright, so back to this getting together thing…"

* * *

**A/N: Another chapter added. i just wanna say thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far, really appreciate knowing how im doing. so thanks**


	5. Chapter Four

**Chapter Four:**

"Hurry it up McMahon, we're going out there in five." Daniels yelled through the bathroom door.

I rolled my eyes at his ignorance. That was one thing I suppose I would have to get used to.

"I'm coming, I'm coming. Keep your pants on." I muttered, walking out of the bathroom with my ring attire on. "We can go now."

Daniels shot me a glare before stalking out of the room ahead of me, not even looking back to check if I was following. I had the smallest inkling to just stay there, but as it was only my second day of taping and my official second day of being here, I decided against it and followed him out of the door. I walked through the halls, just barely seeing Daniels' body in view. But I shrugged it off; as I somehow already knew where I was going. I suppose I still had this place fresh in my mind from the tour AJ gave to me two weeks ago when I first started.

"McMahon, hurry up!" Daniels shouted at me, hurrying my pace up.

I rolled my eyes once more before quickly hurrying up the small distance between the tunnel and I.

"You know what to do?" he asked, looking up at the tunnel as I reach him.

"Yes your highness." I said sarcastically.

He shot me another glare as he looked down at me angrily. "I don't appreciate the attitude."

"And I don't appreciate being ordered around every five seconds." I smirked back.

Daniels looked like he was about to retort something, but his music rang through the arena, causing him to hurry through the tunnel. I sighed before quickly following him out into the Impact Zone.

* * *

**POV off**

* * *

M- "well it looks to be another interesting night here at the Impact Zone. Last week we saw the odd debut of the newest TNA Knockout."

D- "but who was she? We have no name, and why she helped Daniels is completely odd."

M- "that's true don. But it looks like we might be getting some answers now."

The too familiar music of the fallen angel, Christopher Daniels fell onto ears as he strutted through the heel tunnel with a large smirk on his face. Walking behind him was a young woman, standing at about 5'6 or 5'7 with light brown hair cascading down her back; bright blue eyes glistening with a hint of evil. A smirk as well adorned her face. Daniels looked back at the woman before strutting his was down the ramp, the woman following. The two reached the ring, Daniels walking up the steel stairs while she slipped under the bottom rope and into the ring. Soon, the two stood strong in the middle of the ring with a mic on Daniels hand.

"Now, I'm taking a wild guess that everyone is wondering who in the world this lovely lady is?" Daniels spoke smugly.

Cries of boos rang through the arena.

"Well now, apparently you don't. But I'm going to tell you anyways because I really don't care about any of you. See, I was having a bit of trouble…regaining my title. So I recently recruited some help. Actually, a lot of help. I looked around for the toughest person I could find. And who did I come up with? Well, this is one that's going to blow you all away." Daniels stopped for a moment as a cliffhanger.

"Please welcome as the newest addition to the Roster…. my own Dark Angel, Tess…. McMahon!" he emphasized on the last part.

The arena went silent, not knowing what to do. A McMahon was here, was now working here. The company they hated the most, the one that was run by the McMahon family for generations, the youngest and last blood, was working in the competitor arena.

M- "a McMahon, here?"

D- "this is just to bizarre."

Just then, the annoying music of Jeff Jarrett ringed through the arena.

* * *

**POV on**

* * *

I flashed Daniels a confused look as Jarrett's music started. He looked at me and shrugged, apparently not knowing what this was about either.

"Well, well, well. I guess I should be saying welcome to the newest recruit." Jeff Jarrett spoke as soon as he got through the tunnel, hushing his music off. "But I have something against it."

"Don't worry Jarrett, she isn't going for your title as a flavor of the month, you have nothing to worry about." Daniels smirked.

Jarrett took a step forward with a death glare.

"Keep that tone in check Daniels, I run this place, I am the world heavyweight champion." Jarrett shot at him before his ice blue eyes darted onto my own blue eyes. "So, a McMahon in TNA eh? Interesting. But you gotta know, I always thought the WWE was a conniving company."

"Coming from someone who used to be there I suppose you would know huh?" Daniels retorted.

"Hey now, this isn't about me. Actually, I have a bone to pick with you McMahon. Monday, I was looking around the channel on TV, and I saw something rather interesting. I saw our gimmick match, with our moves being performed. Now I have to say, it wasn't TNA I saw, it was WWE. I've never seen them use those before, until the Monday after you debuted. Kind of fishy." Jarrett accused.

I looked at Daniels, and as if he could read my mind, he handed over the mic.

"So let me get this straight Jarrett, your accusing me of what, telling my daddy all about your secrets back here?" I asked with a laugh. "That's ridiculous."

"Then why are you here?" Jarrett began walking down to the ring. "Why are you in the lower end company when you can be living it up McMahon style in your own?"

I eyed as he got closer to the ring, one foot now on the steel steps.

"Because they can't wrestle. See I came over just like everyone else did. They've gone stale. I've watched that company grow since I was born, and truthfully, it's not as exciting as it used to be. No, see, TNA is exciting; it's the new face of professional wrestling. That's why I'm here." I shot back at him.

Jarrett smirked slightly as he walked up the stairs and ducked the ropes.

"Really, ok. But I still don't buy it. And see, when I don't like something, I really, really don't approve. Which means, I'll do anything in my power to make sure a McMahon doesn't work a day in this company. Boys, go to it." Jarrett smirked.

I looked at him confused before the feel of steel came crashing down on my head. I fell to the mat; face first, pain reeling from the back of my head. I felt as a pair of feet began kicking my sides and ribs, causing more pain to rapture through me. I moved slightly in between kicks, trying to see who were the ones attacking. I soon found James Storm and Chris Harris standing over the now lying body of Daniels and I, smirking as Jarrett walked over to me and bent down.

"Welcome to TNA, but you won't last long. Finish it off." He yelled at his two comrades.

I eyes widened slightly as the two (Storm and Harris) got me us before they delivered their ever so brutal finish move, Death Sentence.

* * *

"Ow…"I whined as AJ toughed the back of my head.

"Sorry." He apologized. "They got you pretty good. You'll have a bump there for a bit."

"Thanks for the obvious." I glared at him.

"Sorry. You sure your ok?" AJ asked.

I nodded as I waited for the trainer to finish with Daniels and to work on me. I wasn't badly banged up; just my neck was slightly hurting from the Death Sentence as well as the back of my head from the chair shot.

"See I tend to not believe that." AJ said slyly.

I rolled my eyes. "I tend to not care."

"Ouch. Feisty. Though I have to go, my match is up next. I'll see you in a bit. Rest up before your match tonight, and try not to make them even more mad." AJ advised before jetting off towards the tunnel.

I sighed. Moments ago Larry had decided to make a tag match for the second taping later tonight between AMW and Daniels and I. I was excited how it was going to be my first match, but it tends to blow when its one such as this. It wasn't that I couldn't handle a match like this, I had gone again men in OVW all the time on my own, but when it was now against the ruthless men of TNA, who hated McMahon's more than anything, it tended to become something to be worried about.

* * *

**A/N: another chappie done. oh and guess what! another is coming a few minutes. yes thats right, we're at that time when i already have the chapters done. now arent you glas i wrote most of the middle before the beginning? lol. hope u all like.**


	6. Chapter Five

**Chapter 5**

Dread is definitely what I felt at this moment. I neither wanted to leave this locker room tonight to face those people, or stay in here and risk Daniels coming in here, as this too was his locker room. I suppose it was safe to announce that I absolutely hated working here at TNA. From the glares, to the nasty words, to the pure evil people here, my journey as of yet has been a horrible one. Yet I refuse to give up. I'm determined to fight through this, to make it to the top. Nether less, I was still feeling the dread. Being put as the manager/team mate with Christopher Daniels, who never entirely was ever nice to you before was technically a nightmare in disguise. Also having to face the team of America's Most Wanted in a tag team match along with of course my partner of Daniels, was truly a moment of hatred. It was times like these I wished I had never answered that phone call from Carrie months ago and had signed that contract to head to the WWE.

"McMahon, hurry up and get ready." Daniels crashed through the door into our locker room.

I sighed deeply, retuning from my deep thoughts and lifting my head so my eyes were just high enough so I could watch Daniels pace around the room, adding small things to his attire each time he rounded near his bag, but just low enough so my brown hair just covered them from view of his.

"McMahon!" he glared towards me, seeing I hadn't moved yet.

I rolled my eyes without him seeing as my hair stopped his eye view. But nether less I stood up and began to take my hair out of it's messy ponytail to do my hair properly for tonight, which was an actual tremendous job, but along the way I found an easier way to do it.

"McMahon if I don't see you going into that bathroom in the next 30 seconds…" Daniels began to threaten.

"You'll do what?" I challenged him, turning towards his, my arms crossed, a smirk placed on my lips.

I watched as his dark eyes narrow at me before turning to face his bag, his back now towards me. I shook my head before grabbing my ring attire and going into the small washroom that was placed in our locker room. I quickly got out of my simple jeans and t-shirt that I had worn earlier tonight for the first taping and changed into my black shear flaring, yet tight fitting pants with angel wings with a T through the middle on the sides of both pant legs, a somewhat tight leather corset with thick straps, as well as my dark, gothic accessories. Once I checked myself in the mirror and made sure I looked presentable, I walked out of the bathroom. I was a bit self-conscious about this outfit. My attire before the second taping had been a bit looser fitting, and less reveling, but now the outfit was completely new, as I had to play up my dark angel, gothic type girl. As I walked back towards my bag, I noticed a glance my way by Daniels. I saw his eyes flicker over me before turning his attention back to himself. I sighed in relief as I dumped my clothes into my bag just as someone knocked on the door.

"Daniels, McMahon your match is up next." The voice stated before footsteps were heard leaving the door.

"Now don't mess this up for me." Daniels grabbed my arm and began dragging me out of the room.

I snapped my arm out of his and glared at him as I stopped.

"Get a fucking hold of yourself Daniels. Not everything in the world is about you." I growled.

Daniels stopped as well and turned to me, sending me a look that sent shivers down my spine. His dark brown eyes bore into my bright blue ones; giving me a look not even my father has given me.

"Look McMahon, you've now got me into a storyline against people I don't want to. I want my title back but now thanks to you, that doesn't look to be happening any time soon. So I don't feel the need to be even remotely civil to you. So get your ass together and let me do all the work here or you will regret it." he grunted lowly.

I backed up a step, taken back by his tone. I watched as he shot one last death glare before making his way to the tunnel, this time the face.

* * *

POV off

* * *

D- "another amazing week here on Impact. That six man tag match we had earlier was just amazing."

M- "you've got that right, our x-division stars are just shining through TNA. But look at what we have next Don. A Tag Team Match between the NWA Tag Team Champions, Americas Most Wanted and Christopher Daniels and the new addition to the TNA roster, Tess McMahon."

D- "this will make one interesting match. Lets check it out."

* * *

POV on

* * *

I walked down to the ring with Daniels in front of me. A mixture of cheers and boos rang out as the crowd saw me. On one hand, to them, I had helped the man they loved to hate beat their X-Division Champion. But on the other, the men they hated more than anything were going against us.

"Making their way to the ring, and in her very first match here in Total Nonstop Action; The Dark Angel Tess McMahon, and The Fallen Angel, Christopher Daniels!" I heard Jeremy Borash introduce us.

I breathed in and out before sliding into the ring, standing up and posing to the crowd. I waited as Daniels did the same before climbing through the ropes and posed for the other side. My heart began racing faster as AMW's music rang through the arena, the two posing before walking towards the ring.

"I'm going in first, so get behind the ropes." Daniels told me gruffly.

I didn't object, truthfully not wanting to be the one who started the match off.

* * *

I coughed out a bit of blood as I lied on the mats below the ring. The match had been going on for almost 10 minutes now, and it was one hell of a match. Unlike Daniels said, he had to let me run half of the match so far, as he was getting warred down just as quickly as I was. It was awful because those two, Harris and Storm, didn't even seem tired.

"Get up McMahon." Daniels told me forcefully from the ring post.

I blinked before getting my head back into the game. But before I could get up myself, Storm had slipped out of the ring and was tossing my body into the steel steps. I groaned as my flesh met the steel, steering pain into my body. It felt as if my body was being torn in two as Storm began plucking his foot into my abdomen. I tried to block his attacks, but I couldn't. Thankfully enough though, the ref had made his way between us to break it up. I sighed and took in a few breaths, trying to redeem myself. I watched as Storm was forced back into the ring before the ref checked on me.

"You good to go on?" he asked.

I nodded, not ready to give them the satisfaction of winning. So I used all my might and slid into the ring, eyeing Storm as the ref kept him back so I could fully get into. Storm soon got frustrated and pushed past the ref, connecting his knee into my ribs as I began to get up. I groaned and cringed back to the mat, holding my ribs with my arms. I tried crawling to the ring post where Daniels was standing with his hand out, but every time I inched closer, Storm would drag me back, laughing at how amusing this was to him.

"Come on McMahon, hold in there." Daniels yelled out to me.

I winced, trying to get out of Storm's grasp on my ankle. I eventually kicked low enough, hitting him right above his man hood, allowing my freedom. I crawled and finally touched Daniels' hand. I watched as Daniels flew into the ring, taking down Storm, as well as Harris. I sighed before slipping out of the ring to catch my breath. I was kneeled down on the mats below the ring when I was pulled to my feet by my hair. My eyes widened as they fell onto the ice-cold eyes of Jeff Jarrett. His evil smirk fell down on me, sending a shiver up my spine.

" You don't think you're getting off that easy do you?" he asked smugly, pulling my hair roughly.

I winced as I glared at him, not giving him the satisfaction of seeing my pain.

"What, no witty remark?" he questioned with a laugh.

"Fuck off Jarrett." I threw at him sharply.

He merely just kept the smirk on his face as he looked behind me into the ring. I followed his gaze, watching right when Daniels had the Death Sentence put on him, allowing Harris to get the pin for his team. I groaned silently, knowing I wouldn't live this one down.

"Seems not even Daniels there can handle main event status. Pathetic really." Jarrett mused, smirk still planted on his face.

I clenched my teeth, forcing myself not to retort back.

"Want to go back home yet McMahon?" he asked as he gripped my hair harder.

"Not a chance." I spat.

Jarrett laughed, a little cackle within, before pushing me under the bottom rope and into the ring. He as well got in and returned his grip on me, only this time on my upper arm. I tried to get out of his rough grasp, but to no avail, he was much stronger than I was. Before long though, he pushed me into the now standing form of Daniels. He caught me around the shoulders and stopped my stumbling, keeping me upright.

"Now that we have both of you together…" Jarrett started, a mic now in his hands. "Let me just congratulate you two on the terrible and pathetic loss. A keeper really."

"Bastard." I heard Daniels mutter.

I turned my head to glare into the eyes of the Smirking Jarrett and his tag team, AMW.

"But really, down to business. Like I said last week, I really don't want you here. And I will, by all means, find a way to get you out, even if it means by taking you out on a stretcher." Jarrett stated, grabbing the blue and black guitar Storm had just handed him.

My eyes widened as I had a vague idea of what was going to happen.

"Crap." Daniels muttered again.

What Daniels just said pretty much summarized the whole situation, crap. I have a bad feeling I won't be leaving this ring on my own feet.

* * *

**A/N: so yeah, i kinda lied. i thought this was the chapter i had written fully, but i only had the first page or so done. so sorry about that. it also took a day longer than i expected, but exams started so thats the excuse. nonetheless, the next few chapters should be up soon.**

**Oh, and anyone have any clue in who Tess will eventually fall in love with? i'd love to hear what you guys all think will happen.**


	7. Chapter Six

**Chapter Six:**

"Ow, ow, ow, ow." I moaned.

"Hey you're awake I see." AJ said sympathetically, using the nickname he had given me a few days prior.

During the end of the match at the last taping on Tuesday, lets just say I was right in saying I didn't leave on my own two feet. Jarrett had AMW attack Daniels, keeping him down from helping me. Meanwhile Jarrett caught me off guard with his Guitar Shot, sending the wood down on my heard. If that wasn't enough, Jarrett decided to be such a great guy and give me the Stroke onto his NWA World Heavyweight title. By then, blood was pouring down my cut open forehead, pain ripping inside of me. It wasn't until a few minutes later when the medics had come down to check on me that I had lost conscience. A few hours later and here I was, lying in a hospital bed with a bandage on my cut.

"Yeah. Ow. How long have I been out?" I asked, maneuvering my body so I was in a sitting position, now able to look over at AJ properly.

"Only for about an hour or two. Not long. How are ya feeling?" AJ asked.

"Pain." I pointed to my head as if it was the most obvious thing.

AJ laughed. "Well I could have guessed that."

"Well then, don't ask such a stupid question next time." I teased, touching my head slightly.

"True." AJ nodded, watching me intently.

"What?" I asked, slightly annoyed at the constant look.

"Nothing." He insisted.

I cocked my head to the side, but let it go, my head was hurting from the movement anyways.

"So, when can I leave this place?"

* * *

"He what?" I asked Daniels at our first training session.

"He wants to fight you at Bound for Glory. Well he and AMW." He stated impatiently. "Now hurry up with those reps."

I rolled my eyes. I had only been here for an hour and he already became the drill sergeant. I don't think I've been trained this hard in such a small time since, well probably since I first started. Usually I was able to go for a few hours training and working out. But just after an hour, my arms, legs, and probably every other part of my body were aching.

"Can we push me any harder?" I asked sarcastically.

I watched as Daniels bent down to my level. "Don't tempt me." He smirked. "Now go over there and do some bench crunches."

I sighed but complied, knowing that maybe after all of this is over and done with, I'll be that much better.

"So why does he want to fight me at Bound For Glory?" I asked, a few minutes into the crunches.

"I don't know McMahon, I'm not a mind reader. All I was told was that he went to Zbyszko and asked for a handicap match at the pay per view with you." Daniels stated, walking over. "Oh you can do better than that for god sakes."

I stopped and sat up, glaring at him. "Will you shut it."

"Hey, I didn't have to train you. Be happy I am." Daniels spat at me before standing up.

I narrowed my eyes before getting back to the bench crunches.

"After this we'll go into the ring." He told me sharply before walking away.

I stopped and watch him walk to the other side of the gym.

"This is going to be a long day." I muttered, shaking my head and getting back to my task.

* * *

"Terry, Ray, Devon, Rav, long time no see." I grinned as I opened the apartment door, allowing them entrance.

"You seem cheerful." Terry mused. "What happened?"

"What, I just can't be happy about seeing you four?" I asked innocently.

"No." Scott Levy (Raven, or Rav as I preferred).

I chuckled. "What, its not like I have a hidden agenda or anything."

"Meaning she really does." Ray rolled his eyes. "So where's Jeff at?"

"He's just finishing off his shower." I informed. "So how are you four?"

"Good." Devon answered. Sitting with the other three in the living room. "So what is this hidden agenda of yours?"

I shot him an innocent smile. "I have no clue what you mean."

"It better not be a certain thing." Terry said with a warning.

I stifled a laugh, knowing he meant a thing called bungee jumping, which since I was reunited with these guys again, I started begging Terry to go do with me again. It was sort of ironic how he guessed the exact thing that Jeff and I had planned for the day.

"Hey Mckid, you better not be telling them anything!" Jeff shouted as he left the bathroom.

"I'm not J. keep your pants on, and please do so, I don't wanna see ya naked." I joked.

Jeff rolled his eyes as he walked into the room from the hallway, dressed with wet hair cascading past his shoulders.

"So what are we doing?" Raven asked impatiently.

I rolled my eyes and plopped down onto the arm of the chair he was sitting in. "that I can't say. Jeff told me not to."

I smiled innocently as Jeff rolled his eyes and sat on the couch next to Terry.

"Have you guys heard what this girl got herself into at Bound For Glory?" Jeff asked.

The four shook their heads, confused slightly.

"Well, it seems our least favourite World Champion has decided to have a great old handicap match, featuring AMW, against Tess here." He explained further.

I chuckled as all of their jaws dropped open.

"Oh close those mouths guys, you're gonna let flies in soon." I rolled my eyes.

"Tess, this isn't a laughing thing." Terry warned.

"She's a goner." Raven mumbled, crossing his arms.

"Excuse me?" I asked with a raised eyebrow, looking down at him.

He shrugged, his black hair bobbing with the movement of his shoulders. "You haven't gone against him, or all three of them before in a match. Not only them, but also you'd have Team Canada on your back. I know how those people fight. Its dirty, uncalled for, brutal, conniving, evil, crooked, shrewdly."

I bit my lip. He was pretty much right from what I've already seen of them.

"So pretty much you're a goner." Raven stated again.

I groaned.

"Scott leave her alone. She'll do fine." Jeff reasoned.

We all looked at him as if he was drunk.

"Okay, so maybe not fine. But she does have us right?" he persisted.

"I'm so gonna die then." I moaned.

The five men laughed. I glared at them all, although that seemed to be a bit difficult so I stayed with just glaring at the carpet.

"Sorry Tess, but come on, you do have us." Ray stated.

"Yeah, we won't let you die." Devon grin.

"We'll help you right before you die." Terry finished.

I rolled my eyes with a slight smile. They did have a point. Although the match will be one hell of a fight, I still will have these guys around to help. And knowing these guys as well as I think I do, I know I don't have much to worry about.

"So why aren't we leaving yet?" Raven asked in a gruff.

"We're waiting on AJ and Carrie. Which by the way, they're late…" I trailed off before the doorbell rang. "Never mind, they're here."

Jeff rolled his eyes before getting up off the couch and walked to the door, letting AJ and Carrie into the room.

"Your late." I told them.

AJ laughed. "Sorry, Carrie took to long. I was waiting for twenty minutes until she finally came down."

Carrie rolled his eyes. "It wasn't me, you were the one who took too long to get to my apartment."

I laughed. It's good to know I had at least some friends. Maybe this TNA run wont be all that hard as I thought it would be…

* * *

**A/N: hey what did i say, i did get another chapter up. okay, and i think, im not promising, but i think the next chapter is already written and stuff. so i'll be going over that and then posting. **

**Thanks for all the people who sent in reviews. so far, alot of people think either Chris, AJ, or Jeff. good guesses. i'm not saying if they're right or wrong, just that they're good guesses. actually one might even be on to something. but i like twists, so expect something crazy and unexpected to come out in romance, but then again, it could just be a nice normal romance. you never know.**

**So anyways, keep sending me who you think. you never know, i might like one of the guesses and might use it. oh and who do you think is going to win at Bound For Glory now that the match is set?**


	8. Chapter Seven

**Chapter Seven:**

"You're not going out there McMahon." Daniels grabbed my arm before I could rush out of the locker room.

"Let me go Daniels." I glared viciously at him.

"You're not going out there." he growled in repeat, his dark eyes blazing.

"Let me go!" I tried pulling out of his grasp.

This of course only made his ever so tight grip even tighter.

"If you go out there, you won't be coming back to the locker room. You'll be on your way to the hospital yet again." Daniels growled.

"I'll take that chance." I pulled again.

Daniels and I then proceeded to death glare each other before he eventually let go of my arm, allowing me to rush out of the room quickly.

* * *

"Come on out Tess, hurry up and get your ass out here." Jarrett yelled into the microphone while standing in the six sided ring with Storm and Harris. "Why don't you look at that, the girl is scar…"

Just then Remedy by Seether started up through the arena, and I, came walking out of the tunnel with a microphone in my hands, looking mighty angry.

"Cut the music." I said angrily, and soon after my music stopped from playing. "Now what the hell do you want Jarrett?"

Jarrett smirked as he saw the girl he loved to torment angry.

"I said what the hell do you want Jarrett. I don't have all day!" I repeated darkly.

"Why don't you come down to the ring here and we can discuss the matter." Harris spoke for the first time.

"Fat chance, knowing you three, I won't make it pass the ropes. Hurry it up, I have much better things to do then to stand out here watching three jackasses that no one even likes dance around the ring like little school girls." I insulted angrily.

I watched as Harris held Storm back a bit, who looked as if he was going to jump over the ropes and try to strangle me right there. I smirked at his reaction, knowing that every time I insulted them, he was usually the first to react.

"Hey, hey, no need to insult us, we were just trying to have a civil conversation. But seeing as you're not ready to play nice, we'll just have to do this the hard way…" Jarrett started, smirking a bit.

"Oh right, like there was even an easy way. Well hurry it up you bleached blonde asshole." I retorted, smiling slightly as the crowd cheered at every insult I threw at them.

I watched as Jarrett nodded slightly at Harris and Storm with them nodding back. The two then slowly went through the ropes and stood just below Jarrett, arms crossed, starring straight at me with those evil twin stares.

"Well, you've been in the business for what, three maybe four week now. Now we all know you're a…." Jarrett started before I interrupted.

"A McMahon who is sending my father and everyone over at the WWE notes about what's happening here so they can get better….blah blah blah….yeah I've heard it before Jarrett. Nothing new."

Jarrett smirked before continuing. "My point exactly. And since we have a bit of proof that this might even be true, we, the whole TNA locker room, has decided on an appropriate punishment for you."

I rolled my eyes before noticing that Harris and Storm were starting to walk slowly towards me. I braced myself as Jarrett continued to talk.

"You shouldn't have come here McMahon. You're about to regret the day you ever let down your daddy of a bastard!"

It was then that the crowd began to boo louder then before. Having a rough idea of what, I turned around and quickly dodged the hockey stick/Canadian flag that was coming straight for me. I began to back up down the ramp, watching as the members of team Canada smirking and coming towards me. I wasn't as lucky at missing the take down attack Storm threw at me from behind, causing me to fall onto my hands and knees on the cold metal ramp. I felt someone grab my long hair roughly and dragged me to my feet before rushing me towards the steel steps and throwing me into them. I cried out quietly from the impact of the rough steel rupturing pain in my ribs.

"How do you like us now McMahon?" Harris yelled in my ear before grabbing me up by the hair and pushing me under the bottom rope and into the ring.

I yelled at myself inside not to get up, knowing what would happen the moment I stood up, as it had happened many times before tonight. Thankfully my body didn't betray me, but nether less I was grabbed roughly by both arms by two different people and was yanked to my feet. I closed my eyes tightly and braced myself for the hit of the guitar that I was expecting. After a few seconds I felt nothing so I opened my eyes, seeing why nothing had happened yet. It was then that Jarrett gave me his evil look and smashed his blue guitar straight over my head. Harris and Storm immediately let go of my arms, allowing me to fall to the matt, blood strewing from my freshly cut forehead.

"Welcome to planet Jarrett, McMahon. Time to abide by our rules. You're future in TNA is about to end. At Bound For Glory, hell is about to freeze over." Jarrett threw down the microphone once he was finished.

It was then that I could faintly hear the crowd cheering through my blazing head as I tried to move slightly. I didn't understand why the audience was cheering, but as I was able to get myself up a touch, I saw Daniels running towards the ring with Team 3D hot on his tail. I smiled slightly before pain started to erupt even more through my heard portion of my body as the blood fell from my body. I watched slightly as Daniels and Team 3D chased Jarrett, Harris, and Storm out of the ring before Team Canada started to get involved. This started the large fight that ended with 3LK coming down and fighting Team Canada threw the crowd, so it was only Daniels, Team 3D and myself in the ring.

"Hey Jarrett! America's Most Wanted! Over here!" Brother Ray shouted into the fallen microphone towards the descending figures of Jarrett, Harris, and Storm. "Hell might be freezing over, but the devil isn't gonna stop at us. We're taking you down with us."

The crowd cheered once more as Team 3D ranted around the ring, as the three outside the ring just hurried through the tunnel. It was then that I realized that Daniels was at my side.

"I told you this was going to happen." He told me as he looked down at me.

"It was a chance I had to take." I told him before feeling darkness wrap around my eyesight from the loss of blood as well as pain…

* * *

Light erupted as my eyelids began to flutter open. I could hear the faint talk surrounding me, but I couldn't place whose voices they were.

"She will be fine Mr. Styles. Miss. McMahon just has a concussion. You can wait outside with the rest." A deep males voice spoke.

"AJ." The letters just rolled themselves off my tongue quietly.

"Tess, you're awake. Sorry Doc, the girl seems to want me." Another voice, this one not as deep as the first, spoke smartly.

The buzzing in my hearing began to fade as well as the gloss on my eyes and the figures in the room with me became clear as day. Which meant I could clearly see AJ's smiling face looking down at me. I chuckled a bit from the goofy look on his face while trying to sit up. I eventually got into a sitting position without too much pain.

"Good to see you awake T. though I have to say I am getting sick of being told my good friend is heading towards the hospital after being in that ring." AJ sat down in the chair beside the bed as I turned my view to the surrounding room.

I was definitely in a hospital; this room looked just like the other had last time I had been in here before. I knew probably, where everything was now. The bathroom was always to the right of the room, and the exit to the left. A small TV was in the upper right corner, above the bathroom door, with two chairs as the side of the one bed in the middle of the farthest wall from the exit.

"You're not the only one getting sick of it." I stated. "Oh I hate those guys so much!"

"Don't we all." AJ agreed. "But you really should maybe lighten up and stop egging them on. You're not superwoman, and as much as you are a kick ass wrestler, you can't take all of those guys at once. You're going to get seriously hurt one day and never be able to get back into that ring again. You know those three wont stop until that happens."

I sighed, knowing that it was around that time now where someone, either it being AJ or Jeff, or Carrie giving me that same speech every time I woke up in this damn hospital.

"I know AJ, I know." I looked over at him. "But I'm not going to let them win."

I heard AJ sigh. "I should have known you were going to say that."

"You would think you'd remember." I smiled slightly.

AJ chuckled. "So how are you feeling?"

"I've been better." I told him, before remembering that the doctor that was just in here had spoken of others. "Who else is here?"

"The usual." AJ answered before stretching out to get comfortable in the wooden chair. "Carrie, Jeff, Raven, Terry, Ray, Devon and surprisingly enough, Daniels."

"Daniels is here?" I asked, shocked.

"Strangely enough yeah. He was in the ambulance with you I recall." AJ commented.

"That's…"I started.

"Weird, unusual, yeah pretty much." AJ interrupted.

I rolled my eyes slightly. "I could have finished my own Sentence Allen."

"Hey, no need to call me that." AJ looked at me horrified.

I laughed at his face. AJ's face soon softened and chuckled.

"Well at least I got you to laugh." AJ stated, looking mighty proud of him. "Though I should probably go and tell the others that you're awake, they will probably wanna see you."

"AJ, could you kind of not, or at least tell them I'll see them later and tell them to go home. I don't really feel like be bombarded by everyone. With my head hurting still and all." I asked him.

"Yeah sure. Want me to also see when you're allowed to leave?" AJ asked, standing up out of the chair.

"Would you?"

"Yeah sure." He nodded with a smile.

"Thanks." I returned the smile before making myself more comfortable on the hospital bed.

"No problem anytime." AJ told me before leaving the room.

* * *

**A/N: another chapter. damn, three in one day, im good. okay, so this was already written, but still. i think the next few are as well, so im deciding in either putting another chapter or two up today or wait for another day. what do you guys think?**

**and to answer some questions on Christian Cage, the story is taking place right now, before Bound For Glory, and Christian didn't come till Genesis. but don't worry, he'll be in the next few chapter, i hope anyways, i can't remember where i put him. but he is in them.**

**okay so keep those romance guesses up, i love hearing what you guys think. and ultimately, its what you guys want that i'll do.**


	9. Chapter Eight

**Chapter Eight:**

"Oh come on McMahon, you can do better than that." Daniels said into my ear as I struggled to finish a bench crunch.

I was just ready to snap on this guy. It was just two days after my hospital trip was over and he was working me to the bone. "Sharpening my skills" he called it. And in the midst of all this, I had yet to figure out why he was at the hospital when he one) hated me and two) he really hated me.

"If you don't tune this up you're never going to get any better. Bound For Glory is just around the corner McMahon." Daniels threw me a dirty look as I collapsed from the strain of the workout.

"Oh…just give…it a break…Daniels." I gasped out in between the many deep breaths that were continuing to escape my lips.

"Fine, if you want to lose and go to the hospital yet again, go ahead." Daniels stood over me.

"And why…" I started as I flipped my body around so I was now in a sitting position looking up at him with a hard stare. "…Would you care if I lose or not?"

"It'll make me look bad." He stated.

It didn't get past me how much of an ego this man has.

"Is that all you care about, yourself?" I asked him before picking up my Gatorade and standing up beside him.

"Pretty much." He retorted, folding his arms over his white wife beater shirt.

I narrowed my eyes at him before looking at my Gatorade. It was a bad thought, but I was really getting sick of this guy. So I just simply brought the bottle up and twisted it upside down, letting its contents fall onto a Mr. Christopher Daniels. I smirked as he (if this was even possible) gave me an even darker look.

"For one thing Daniels, you're too cocky for your own good, and two, I will win at Bound For Glory." And with that, I brushed past him and walked towards the women's change room in the Gym we were in.

"Bitch." I heard Daniels lightly curse.

* * *

"AJ what's wrong?" I plopped down beside AJ in his apartment's living room.

After I changed at the gym, and as I was just walking out of the building, I received a phone call from AJ on my cell. He sounded pretty upset and had asked for me to come over. So as a good friend, I immediately jumped into my Jimmy and drove over quickly.

"Nothing." He shrugged, looking down at the ground in front of the couch we were sitting on.

"If it was nothing you wouldn't have asked me to come all the way over here." I told him, putting my arm around his shoulders. "Now what's wrong Allen?"

"Don't use that name." He said softly, a small smile on his face. Though I do mean molecular small.

"AJ, come on just talk."

AJ sighed before looking at me. I knew something was deeply wrong. His usually sparked up blue eyes were now dull as anything.

"You know how Petey and I used to be best friends right." He started off.

I nodded. "Yeah, before I came anyways."

"Yeah well, he came over earlier." AJ stated, looking straight ahead at nothing important.

"And…" I asked, wanting him to continue.

"…Petey and I have been best friends since, I don't know, just for a long time now. We talked, we hanged out, and we prank each other. Its hard to not have your best friend around because one something stupid and lousy thing happened." He said.

I looked down at my lap, feeling a bit guilty. I mean it sort of was my fault that the two weren't friends anymore.

"So when he came over, I was sort of relieved, like he and I would go back to how we were before. But that wasn't exactly true. He told me that we could be friends again…"

"That's good." I inserted.

"But at a price." He looked at me sadly.

I looked at him closely, a bit of me having a very, very bad feeling about what was coming next.

"He wants me to betray you and walk with them." AJ told me.

My heart slowed down, hardly beating it felt. My throat closed up. I just couldn't believe it. I could only wish that AJ wouldn't. He was the only one backstage except for a few that actually was a friend. If he was gone, I don't know what I would do. But dread was filling me yet again. I knew his and Petey's relationship was and had always been much more stronger than ours.

"And as much as I love you T, as much as I hate myself for this, I need my life to get back to it's normal self, for my mental stakes sake. So I'm sorry about this."

Tears swelled up in my eyes as his eyes wandered past me and to the door behind us. I felt eyes on me from behind so I turned around. My heart could have just stopped there; I was already going through enough pain. But to see Jarrett, Storm, Harris, Williams, and Young standing there those evil smirks on my face, that just broke any confidence or strength I had left. I heard AJ get up from the couch behind me, and watched as he walked over to them. Tears escaped my eyes as I stood up and began to back away from them, scared as hell. But I knew I was screwed, the door to leave the apartment was behind them. There was no way out.

"What the hell do you want Styles? I'm trying to do stuff, I don't need to be called over here by you…" Daniel's voice carried from the now open door.

My eyes flew to him as he looked inside. His eyes flashed over 5 before landing of Styles. After a few, his dark eyes finally came to my own fear filled ones.

"Oh good of you to make it Daniels. We were just going to have…a business meeting of sorts with Ms. McMahon here." Jarrett smirked at me.

"Really? Well what kind of meeting would that be?" Daniels asked, stepping into the room, his eyes never leaving mine.

"The end of her career meeting." Jarrett answered.

"So then why am I here?" Daniels wanted to know.

"You see. Everyone backstage hates McMahon, but we're the only ones who actually show it to a large extent. Seeing as we know how much you wish you didn't have a manager, we thought you might like to help…get rid of that." Jarrett informed.

My breathing began to get more rapid, knowing that this was a perfect opportunity for Daniels to prove that he hated me so much and get revenge.

I watched fearfully as Jarrett nodded his head at Storm and Harris and the two began to walk towards me. I tried to back up, but my back soon found the wall as they neared me. I winced as I felt their hands grip either of my arms and pull me roughly closer to Jarrett and the others. I tried struggling, but they were too strong for me to handle together.

"So Daniels, how about the first hit…" Jarrett gestured towards me.

My eyes widened as Daniels stepped forward in between the gap Williams and Young had now made, while AJ just stood there, his head hung.

Daniels stood there in front of me for a moment. Looking in my eyes. I bit my lip waiting for the hit I knew was coming.

"I'd love to." Daniels stated.

I waited as the hit came. But it never did. But I did see Daniels deck Jarrett in the jaw so hard that he was knocked down. From seeing their boss get hit Storm and Harris immediately let me go, going straight for Daniels as Williams and Young checked on Jarrett.

"Go." Daniels told me.

I just stood there. Shocked that he actually did that.

"McMahon, go!" he shouted at me before he got hit in the gut and fell to his knees.

I couldn't leave him there with these 7 guys that could most definitely make a definite impact on Daniels. I couldn't.

Because of my hesitation Williams was able to get to me, grabbing my hair roughly and pulling my head back a bit. Winced in pain as my hands flew up to his hand.

"You're lucky that you have someone on your side. But not that lucky." He told me before pushing me at Jarrett.

Jarrett caught me shoulders before grabbing my jaw and placing a nice big fist hard into it. I fell back from the impact, stumbling and falling. As I blinked back tears of pain and rubbed my jaw, I watched as Daniels fell down beside me, blood escaping his mouth, nose, and his forehead.

"Take this as a warning. You're not going to last in this business long McMahon. In the end, you'll be running back home to daddy to beg for your job back. And Daniels, you made the wrong mistake that just cost you everything. Come on guys, we have work to do elsewhere." Jarrett spat at us before indicating the rest of his posse towards the door.

As Storm and Harris passed, Storm kicked me in the ribs as well as Harris did the same to Daniels. Once though the door was slammed shut behind them, I turned to wards Daniels, holding my side with my hand. Daniels was rolled over on a side, his back facing me, holding him up by an elbow.

"Are you ok?" I asked softly, actually meaning it.

No response. I winced slightly as I tried to get up. My jaw and ribs throbbed slightly but as I looked at Daniels he took it much worse then me. You could already see the bruises forming on his left eye and forehead. Once I was able to stand, I moved around so that I was in front of Daniels. I knelt down before him, trying to get his attention. Daniel's eyes finally looked up and met my own. It was as if our eyes met in a mutual agreement. We would get those guys back, no matter what.

Without thinking, I stood up and let my right hand fall towards Daniels. Daniels looked towards my hand, confusion in his eyes. Surprisingly enough, after a bit, Daniel's finally grasped my out stretched hand with his own. Together, we got him to his feet, stumbling a bit, but he straightened himself out without help.

"Why were they here?" Daniels asked me.

Just thinking about the reason created tears in my eyes as I looked away and towards the closed door.

"McMahon?"

"He went against me." I said softly.

"What?" Daniels asked, confused.

"AJ, he went against me. He ruined our friendship just to have a normal life back again. He betrayed me." Tears fell, now more rapidly then before.

I tried so damn hard to not break down, but it was hard to avoid. I brought my hand up, trying to cover it up, not wanting Daniels to see me as the weak person that I was and always had been. I tried so hard to stop. But I just couldn't. I felt so hurt, so heart broken. It felt like I couldn't go on, I just lost my best friend, and to the assholes who hated me since day one. I just couldn't take it anymore.

I felt a hand on my shoulder before Daniels wrapped his arms around me awkwardly, embracing me. I didn't care at that point that it was Daniels. I would have cared less. I just needed a shoulder to cry on. And right now, that was Daniels'.

* * *

**A/N: okay, i was asked for chapters to be put up today, so here we go.**

**wow, AJ turned mean, bet none of you saw that coming. i know it probably doesnt seem like the AJ type of thing, but it'll come out later on, and don't worry, he wont be evil for too long...or not. u never know i suppose.**

**and whoa, was Daniels just nice, or somewhat nice? is that cold hearted man actually letting the barrier down? questions to think about as you wait for the next chapter. thankfully i have about a million chapters written already (okay so not a million, it just feels that way), so all i need to do is look over them and add. so i'll add some more tonight, u tell me when and i will.**

**Oh and Chris so far is by far the most popular guess in romance with Tess. could it be him? or could it be someone else you don't expect? hell, she might even have a romance with someone from WWE, probably not, but with my crazy mind you never know -**


	10. Chapter Nine

**Chapter Nine:**

* * *

POV OFF

* * *

"Has she come out of her room at all?" Carrie asked Jeff a few days later, looking solemnly towards Tess' bedroom door. 

Jeff sighed and shook his head, looking towards the door as well. "She looked so sad. Like she just lost her best friend."

"Technically she did." Carrie offered.

Jeff once again sighed before looking at Carrie. "I still can't believe AJ. Those two were so close. He always tried to take care of her. He was worse then me at times. I just can't believe him."

"I know." Carrie looked sadly at Jeff, seeing no spark in his usually sparked amazing green eyes. She knew what he was feeling. Jeff had always been the type of guy that was always there for a friend. And both she and he had been good friends with Tess, each a different way, but still the friendship was there. It was hard for Carrie to see such hurt in her best friend's eyes, but as well as in her own and Jeff's. Together, metaphorically, they were like one soul.

"When do we have to be at the studio tonight?" Jeff asked Carrie suddenly.

"At least by 6." She answered, placing a bit of her vibrant curly red hair behind an ear. "Speaking of which, I should get going unfortunately. I have a few things to look over before tonight's tapings. Try your best with her. If you need any help call Raven, or even Daniels if you have to. We all might not like him, but he has a power over her to get her to do what he wants, as much as you hate that."

Jeff's eyes narrowed for a moment before retaining their full stature. "Yeah, I'll try. I'll call Terry if I have to. And if that doesn't work, I'll force her out of that room."

"Good luck with that." Carrie stated, looming once more at the door before turning her way towards the apartment's exit. "I'll see you both tonight."

"Yeah see ya." Jeff told her as Carrie walked towards the exit. "Oh and if you see them, send some heated words towards them and tell them they're gonna get their ass kicked soon."

"Will do." Carrie replied before opening and closing the door, her form not completely out of sight.

Jeff sighed once more before walking slowly towards Tess' bedroom door. As he neared, he heard nothing but a soft whimper. The same one he continually heard throughout the nights. She just lied in there, crying herself to sleep, wasting away. She was hurt and it killed Jeff that he couldn't just sweep in there and take all the pain away. He remembered a time when she was younger, only a teen, and the boy she really liked rejected her. She was heartbroken, and all Jeff wanted to do was take her pain away. Even then he couldn't. This girl was a mastermind at shutting herself down, mind and body, when she was hurt. But this time Jeff refused to let her go.

"Tess." Jeff softly knocked on the door. "Sweetie, you have to come out eventually. I know you're not sleeping. Honey, all I want to do is talk. You known you need to. Tess?"

All the reply he received back was that of a whimper. Jeff sighed yet again.

"I would normally just open the door, but that would only get me so far. Then I'd have to try to figure out how to open the door to you Hun, and that has never been easy as you keep it locked up by so many different locks. Sweetie you need to open the doors, let me in. let me help you." Jeff spoke.

Jeff waited for a reply, but only got silence in return. Jeff turned, and walked towards the kitchen where the phone was. Jeff looked at the fridge briefly and saw the numbers of their friends. He pressed down quickly the 7 numbers that were familiar enough and waited as the dial tone started to ring. After the fourth ring Jeff was about to hang up but a voice finally answered.

"What?" a whisky voice answered impatiently on the other end.

"Dude, I need help. She won't leave her room. She won't say anything. I'm really worried about her." Jeff insisted, ignoring Raven's usual impatient tone.

"Why don't you just go in there?" Raven asked, grumpily.

"I'd like to see you try to get to the doors in her after the bedroom one. Not easy. Even I can't and we've been friends for a while now. Not even Carrie can. Just come over and try to help. We have 5 hours before the show, we'll need all five believe me." Jeff insisted.

Jeff could hear a sigh on the other side, as if Raven was thinking.

"Fine. That girl better appreciate a hangover man driving hours just for her." Raven grumbled.

"It takes an hour to get here so stop complaining. Just hurry it up." Jeff told him before hanging up, ready to make a few more calls.

"Hello?" a deep, yet somewhat friendly voice answered.

"Terry dude, I need some help with her." Jeff told immediately.

"Still hasn't left her room?" Terry asked.

"Nothing. The only sound you hear from her is whimpering and crying. I'm getting really worried." Jeff said truthfully.

"I'll be there in a few. Did you call Raven, Devon, and Ray?" Terry asked.

"Raven's on his way, and haven't called them yet. Do you mind? I have another call to make, and this one might take a bit." Jeff stated, dreading the next call he knew he had to make. He cursed Carrie for being right.

"Yeah no problem. Anything for that girl. She's too good to be hurt like this. One thing I admit I hate about TNA that WWE has, they were more of a family then TNA is. WWE always welcomed people. All Jarrett does is outcast them." Terry stated, angrily.

"Yeah I know. So I'll see you soon then. And make sure to call them. All right, thanks. See you soon. Bye." Jeff hanged up.

"Time to make the next call." Jeff muttered to himself as he rummaged through a drawer for the TNA directory they got awhile back with all the information needed about everyone backstage.

Soon enough, there it sat in a drawer, looking as if it had never been touched. Truthfully it hadn't. This was the first time it would ever be used by Jeff. But it indeed was for a good cause. Jeff skimmed the sheet, searching for the name he knew by hate. Soon enough he found it and carefully tagged in the numbers onto the phone. A ring soon followed the numbers. After the second ring, the voice Jeff dreaded answered.

"Hello?" Daniels asked from the other side.

"Look Daniels, I know we don't like each other, and I know you and Tess hate each other. But…she needs help. She needs a lot of help. Ever since you brought her home the other day, she hasn't eaten, gone to the bathroom or anything. All she does is stay in that room, which I bet is dark too." Jeff started.

"What do you want me to do about it Hardy?" Daniels asked impatiently and annoyed.

"Well you were there, you saw what mostly happened. You can make her do what you want. As much as I hate that, I think you might be the only one who can get her to come out. She needs to come out." Jeff continued, almost in a begging voice.

Just as Raven had done, Daniels sighed and didn't answer right away.

"Fine. But I'm not going to try all day. I go, I try a few times, and then I leave. It's not my job. Got it. Good." And with that, Daniels hanged up, not letting Jeff say anything else.

Jeff mumbled to himself, hating himself for making that last necessary call to Daniels. But even he knew it was what had to be done. Daniels, as much as it pained Jeff and the rest, had a weird power over Tess. It wasn't that huge, but at times, when he wanted her to do something, she would eventually fall into his control. Jeff hated that, but thankful at the same time, as maybe he would be able to get Tess out of her room.

It was then that the buzz from downstairs rang through the intercom. Jeff sighed and walked over, pressing the talk button before talking.

"Terry?" Jeff asked.

"It's me man. Brought along our good buddies. Wanna let us up." Terry stated.

"Yeah one sec." Jeff replied before buzzing them in.

Jeff waited for a moment before he heard a knock on the door. Jeff quickly opened the wooden lug of a thing and allowed in Terry, Ray (Bubba Ray) and Devon (D-Von or Brother Devon).

"Hey guys. Good luck with her." Jeff stated, closing the door behind them.

"That room hers?" Terry asked, nodding towards the only closed door in the apartment.

"Yep." Jeff answered, watching as Terry walked immediately over to the door.

Before he could reach it though, a loud scream emitted from the room. Ray, Devon, and Jeff all looked at each other as Terry stopped in his tracks.

"That ever happen before?" Terry asked.

"Never." Jeff breathed.

"Tess." Terry knocked loudly. "Tess talk to me. Let me in. open the door. Are you all right? Tess!" Terry tried to pursue her out.

Nothing happened except the usual silence.

"Sorry Jeff, but I'm going in there. It's not healthy. I know you don't want to, but someone has to at least. Make sure she's alright." Terry turned and looked at Jeff.

Jeff nodded, not saying a word. Terry nodded back before his hand reached for the knob, turning it fully. But the knob suddenly stopped. It wasn't stuck, but locked in place.

"Is there a lock on the door?" Terry asked.

"No." Jeff looked confused. "She probably put something behind the door se we couldn't get in. damn her intelligence."

"Damn." Terry grumbled.

"Smash through the door?" Ray suggest seriously.

"We might have to come to it eventually." Devon agreed.

"Hold on to that thought." Jeff said to the two as another buzz sounded.

"Yeah?" Jeff asked into the intercom.

"Let me up Hardy, I don't have all day." Daniels voice said grumpily.

Jeff rolled his eyes but buzzed him in nonetheless.

"Was that Daniels?" Terry asked, walking back into the open space.

"Yeah." Jeff admitted.

"Why is he here?" Devon asked.

"Carrie suggested it." Jeff stated simply before a knock was at the door. "Brace yourself."

Jeff returned to the door, opening it for Daniels. Daniels brushed his way in, not even giving the three standing in the open room a single glance.

"Her room the one at the back?" Daniels asked simply.

"Yeah." Jeff replied.

Daniels simply walked towards the door. He raised a hand and knocked. When he got no sign of life, he shook the handle. When Daniels soon discovered the knob wouldn't work, he sighed and went to his original plan. Talking.

"McMahon, you want to get the hell outa there. We have a show to put on tonight. I didn't put all this time and effort into working on you to have you blow the tapings off. You still have training to do before the Pay Per View this Sunday." Daniels retorted.

As he got nothing back, he continued to try.

"McMahon, I will break this door down. Mark my words I will." Daniels sighed before toning his tone down a bit, having a feeling his rough one wont work, as he was feeling glares from the four behind him. "I know Styles hurt you, but he isn't a friend if he just did that to you. A friend wouldn't do that. He did that, which means he wasn't a true friend. So technically you shouldn't be upset at anything."

"That isn't helping Daniels." Ray said rudely.

Daniels bit his tongue, trying not to snap at him.

"Alright fine, at least do this. Get your ass off your bed, walk towards the door. You doing that? All right then move whatever you have in front of the door. I wont open it, and neither will anyone else. It's a safety hazard. Okay, now you can go back to your bed." Daniels recited.

"Like she'd actually do that." Terry muttered.

Daniels raised an eyebrow, moving his hand towards the knob and turned it, moving his body a bit so the others could see the knob clearly going the whole way, allowing a crack in the door. Daniels gave the four a dirty look before opening the door widely. The darkness from the room wrapped around Daniels slightly, but the light from the open room allowed for some seeing space inside Tess' bedroom. Daniels, as though dark was his expertise, searched and found Tess curled up in a corner, head on her knees, arms around her curled up legs. Hardly any part of her moved, apart from when she breathed. Even from just looking at her now, it seemed as if she hadn't changed her clothes form the last time Daniels had seen her a few days previously.

"I'll be back." Daniels stated before walking slowly into the room and closing the door.

Daniels stopped just inside the room, allowing his eyes to adjust to the pure darkness. Soon enough he was just able to make out Tess' figure in the corner as before. Daniels started to move towards her, not wanting to make her startled at all.

"What are you doing in here?" Tess asked quietly, a bit of a hoarse within.

Daniels didn't answer but instead walked closer, and he was soon standing right above her. He slowly knelt down so that he could be eye level, provided she looked at him.

"Why are you here?" she asked again.

"Why are you pushing them out?" Daniels countered.

"Fuck off Daniels." Her muffled voice retorted.

"All they did was care about you. Fuck styles, he's a bastard, even I know that. But as much as I hate those guys out there, they care about you more the anything. They just want you to let them in." Daniels continued.

"Why do you care?" she asked, lifting her head so her red and puffy eyes fell onto Daniel's face.

"See the thing is, I don't really. But I'll be the one to get into trouble if you're not at the tapings tonight." Daniels stated selfishly.

Tess looked away, her eyes now gazing at the wall in front of her.

"Look, I don't really care. But I suppose a small, a very small portion of me does. I'm a human being too, and even I know what Styles did was wrong. I'm not a bastard as everyone thinks I am. I do know what wrong and right is. He was wrong, as was Jarrett and them. Why the hell do you think I helped you the other day? Incase you don't remember I got a few good hits for you." Daniels told her.

"You don't have to listen or pay attention to me, but Hardy out there cares about you enough to call me for help. Let him hear you and help you." Daniels finished.

Daniels waited for her to retort. But nothing came. Only a new set of whimper and cries came from her. This time, not about Styles, not about her hurt, but for the realization that she needed someone. Anyone.

"McMahon. McMahon look at me." Daniels demanded.

Tess turned her head slowly to the left to look at him through the darkness.

"This is what Jarrett wants. He wants this from you. He wants you to give up and leave TNA. You can't let him win. I don't know you, but I have an idea you like it here, so don't let him get to you. Don't let him wreck your spirit." Daniels told her.

Tess' bottom lip quivered, while feeling shocked at Daniels. To her, what he said to her was just what everyone else said, but from someone who never liked her before, it made her believe it more.

New tears now were shedding from Tess' eyes. Though these were not those of self-pity and sorrow, they were just the reminisce of long days of heartbreak.

"It hurts so much." Tess whispered, looking down at her knees.

"I know." Daniels retorted "but you have to let the pain go."

"Its hard." Tess said before the tears became harder.

Daniels, not expecting to do so, sighed before slowly moving an arm out so that it reached around Tess' shoulders. He slowly drew her in, not noticing even what he himself was doing.

* * *

**A/N: another chappie up.**

**So Daniels helped tess huh? odd yet kind of nice. now i bet all of you are wondering whats about to happen next. well keep your pants on, the next chapter will come soon enough.**


	11. Chapter Ten

**Chapter Ten:**

A sigh escaped my lips as I stopped in front of the dreaded door that now stood clearly marked in front of me. 5 hours ago I wouldn't leave my bedroom due to what happened earlier in the past week. And now, I was standing in front of my locker room that I was supposed to again share with Daniels. It was odd enough that in fact, he had been the one to get me out of my small depression and made me leave my room. I still, though, wasn't sure why he did what he did. It confused me so much that I didn't even want to think of it. But yet, it was all that was going through my mind. It felt like a train zooming around it's track in a small circle, zooming past, never stopping, and always there, creating a ruckus within.

"McMahon? What are you doing standing out here?" Daniel's voice asked suddenly from the now open locker room door.

My head snapped up, not expecting his voice to break into my thoughts. Our eyes crossed each other's paths before I averted my eyes to the room behind him.

"Well hurry up and get in here." Daniels spoke, turning back around and waling into the locker room.

I sighed once more before following Daniels into the room.

"How are you doing?" Daniels asked suddenly after I had closed the door behind me.

I stopped where I was, and turned towards him. I shrugged my shoulders before turning back around and heading towards an empty spot across from Daniels. I let my duffel back plop down onto the bench before sitting on it myself. I sat forward, looking down at my hands, watching them as they fiddled with each other.

"We still have to go get our scripts and stuff from Carrie and them." Daniels informed me, breaking the dead silence.

I looked up and across the room to where Daniels sat, taping up his wrist and half of his hand with black tape, like he did every time before the show started. Once he was finished doing his left hand Daniels sighed before looking at me with his deep dark eyes.

"Are you going to talk at all?" he asked impatiently.

I looked back down at my hands, not answering.

"Whatever then, just make sure you're dressed by the time I get back." Daniels spoke towards me before standing up and walking out of the room, a bit of annoyance in his wake.

I sighed as he left, looking at the closed door. I waited a moment before turning towards my bag and pulling out my ring attire and quickly changing, knowing Daniels would be a good 15, 20 minutes until he walked back into the room. As soon as I was finished though, I walked slowly towards the door. I opened it a touch, peeking out to see if anyone was around. As I saw that no one was, I quickly opened the door and left the room, closing the door softly behind me. I looked both left and right, looking for a sign of living life. But the only thing living in this hallway was me. I sighed out of relief; thankful enough to not have to run into well pretty much anyone except those few that accept me here.

"Tess!" Terry's voice called from the right of me.

I groaned softly, not really wanting to talk to anyone right about now. Nonetheless, I plastered on a fake smile and greeted Terry as he reached me.

"You might as well wipe that fake smile off. Doesn't fool anyone." Terry told me immediately.

I sighed before returning back to my normal, sad facial expression.

"So how are you doing?" Terry asked as we began to walk slowly.

I shrugged my shoulders, stuffing my hands into the front pockets of my jeans, averting my eyes from his and looking towards the ground as we walked.

"I'm at least glad you're out of that room." He admitted. "Hey you're not talking, what's wrong. Usually you're talkative."

I stopped and looked at him oddly. "What in the world do you think is wrong Terry?"

"I know it hurts, and you're probably killing yourself inside, but…" he started to say.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here?" Jarrett's voice trailed over to us as he, and AMW walked towards us, large smirks plastered on their faces, titles gleaming on their shoulders.

I groaned, not needing this right now. All I wanted was to have a nice quiet, lonesome walk around to clear my head, and now I have this, a potential riot.

"I'd suggest you keep on walking Jarrett." Terry stepped in front of me, glaring at the three.

"Why don't you keep out of this Terry?" Jarrett said snidely.

Terry's fists clenched, ready to strike at any moment.

"Why don't you just keep on moving?" Ray stated from behind me.

I turned my head slightly to see the angry faces of Ray and Devon. I sighed in relief, happy that the three wouldn't start anything now that they were evenly mastered. No, those three only fought when they had the upper hand, never when they were even or out handed.

Jarrett just smirked before the three made it around us, though not without the three looking down at me with dirty looks. I looked away, not wanting to watch as they passed. Once they were gone, Terry turned around, now facing Ray, Devon and I.

"Someone really has to do something about them." Terry said angrily.

"Agreed." Devon said, a look of disgust on his face.

"How are you by the way Tess?" Ray asked, looking down at me.

"I wish people would stop asking me that. I'm not ok, I will not be ok." I snapped.

"We know, we just worry about…"Ray tried to get out.

"Look I just want to be alone right now alright." I told him, as well as the others.

Ray nodded, sending me a sympathetic smile. I dropped my head, turned around and walked past Terry. I walked quickly towards the first corner I saw and turned it, slowing down my pace as I did. I sighed as I saw the hallway was empty. I could finally have a bit of peace.

"Didn't expect to see you out of the locker room." A familiar voice stated.

I turned around and saw Daniels standing right behind me. I mentally hit myself; completely forgetting this was the hallway that Carrie's office was in.

"Alright, don't talk, here, take a look over this before the taping starts." Daniels carelessly threw me the bundle of papers.

I caught them easily enough, but was rather annoyed at how he gave them to me.

Daniels shook his head before turning around and walking down the way I had just come from.

"Do you have a problem or something?" I spoke suddenly.

Daniels stopped walking and turned around slowly. He then walked back to where he had stood before. I took a step back, trying to gain feet in between us.

"Excuse me? You're asking me that? Kinda funny considering you're the one who wouldn't leave her bedroom just because some asshole wasn't all that nice to ya. Yeah I'm not the one with the problem." Daniels spat out, definitely annoyed now.

I crossed my arms, glaring at him slightly. "Excuse me if I show emotions, unlike some people."

"Oh I can show emotions, I just choose not to." Daniels returned, eyes narrowing.

"Oh yeah, very mature." I rolled my eyes.

"Right, blabbering like a fool and not eating for how long is very mature." He retorted, crossing his arms as well.

"Oh Fuck off Daniels." I spat.

"Why don't you? It's not like anyone wants you here anyways. No one cares less or not if you're even alive." His eyes gleamed with fire.

I stepped back at that. I hadn't expected him to say that. I knew it was mostly true, but for someone, more or less him, the one who tried helping me 5 hours previous, it was heartbreaking to take. My eyes grew wet as tears appeared. I turned around and quickly walked down the hall, dropping my script along the way. I walked, not entirely knowing where I was going. I just had to get away from that hallway.

It felt as if everything that had felt so right was now…so wrong. I tried so hard to make this work. But it hurt so much. I was hurt every other week or so, I was hated due to my name, I was just lucky enough to have the ones that I've known previously from earlier years behind me. But that was growing thinner each and every day apparently. It just hurt so much. I wasn't used to this. It wasn't something easily adjustable. It was hard to enough to be disowned by my family, but to now be disown from the company I had chosen over my own families, it hurt ten times worse.

"Tess, are you alright?" Raven's familiar voice came from in front of me.

I quickly wiped away the tears that were on my cheeks. I didn't want someone like Raven to see me like this, even though he was a friend in his own sort of way.

"You're out of your room I see. And before I even got a chance to come help. I feel sort of left out. And kind of angry. I wan enjoying the pain from my hangover when Jeff told me to hurry my ass over to your apartment to help. I drove for an hour for no reason." He mused, dark eyes traveling over me, expressionless as always.

I looked down, not really wanting to talk.

"What is it?" he asked, lifting my chin to look into my blue eyes.

"Nothing." I replied softly.

"Nothing doesn't make a girl cry." He stated.

I shrugged. "Just Daniels."

"Would you like me to rip his limbs off in a horrific way? I think I still have items to help with it." he asked with that insane tone.

I let out a small laugh. "No, but thanks for that…odd and slightly terrifying gesture."

"It's what I do. So what did the dolt of a man do this time?" Raven wanted to know, leaning against the nearest wall, gesturing for me to join him.

I moved so I was leaning against the wall beside him, looking down at the floor that looked like stone. It had a cement colouring to it, but it definitely wasn't cement. It didn't have the same cold steel feeling to it.

"Tess?" Raven looked down at me, waiting for my explanation.

I sighed. "He just said that I should just go as no one wants me here or cares that I'm alive."

"And you got upset over something as feeble as that?" he asked with a snort.

I stood up straight turned to leave, but felt an arm on my arm.

"Sorry, just not used to being around people who took those kind of things personally. Don't listen to the cretin." Raven told me, pulling me back to my previous spot.

"Not as easy as you think." I muttered.

"Why's that?" he raised an eyebrow.

"He was the one who helped me out of my state earlier." I made him aware.

He thought about this for a while as his dark eyes met with my bright blue ones.

"Interesting. The nitwit really needs to figure out what the hell is wrong with that absurd head of his." Raven reflected upon. "But again, don't listen. The dolt knows nothing. People do want you here, and they do care if you're alive or not."

I shrugged.

"Hey, what ever happened to Terry, Ray, Devon, Jeff, Carrie…and I. Aren't we supposed to be your friends?" he asked, in an abnormal soft voice.

I shrugged again. "I guess."

"That's right, we are. Just leave the whole Daniels problem behind. He's always going to be a nincompoop. There's nothing that can be done there. So just forget about him."

I looked up at him for a moment. Raven and I had always had an odd relationship. I suppose we were friends, and we cared about each other in a way. But truthfully, he had never talked to me like this before. He had never comforted me before. It was slightly odd and kind of scary. But it felt really nice to know that he cared. He cared enough to leave his character and actually become a good friend. It was nice to know.

* * *

**A/N: another chapter. i'm thinking i might stop, unless you really want more added tonight. its easy enough to do, i just don't want to bombard everyone in one night. so let me know if you still want more.**

**what the hell is wrong with Daniels? one minute he acts nice, and the next, he's all rude and mean. split personality problem, oh yeah. lol**

**sorry if the Raven character is kinda off. i wanted him more in the story, and figured coming to her emotional aid might be nice. that and something big happens with him later on, so i might as well start working it in now.**

**now, what do i mean by that? is Raven the romance? could it be Chris? could it be someone else? who knows. let me know what you think.**


	12. Chapter Eleven

**Chapter Eleven:**

"Good, you're here on time for once." Daniels spoke towards me, yet never moving his eyes from the weight he was lifting.

I remained silent. My mind wasn't in a talking mood. Tonight was the night. It was the morning of Bound For Glory, and I was pretty much freaking out. I knew I wasn't ready, that I hadn't trained enough. But it all wouldn't matter now, later tonight, the main event of tonight's PPV, all of that would be put aside. I would have to fight, no matter what, and even though I knew Daniels, and Ray and Devon will be at ringside, I was ultimately alone.

"McMahon? Snap out of it." Daniels broke me from my thoughts.

He had stood up now, and had put the weight back in its original place.

"You better get into a better focus, and fast." Daniels stated as he walked behind me and stood there.

I rolled my eyes. He had no clue how much I knew that. I need this win more then anything. To prove it to everyone in the back that I was worthy of being a McMahon in TNA. I had to win this to try to get some respect from everyone. I had to beat that bastard and his lackeys, and prove once and for all that I'm that damn good.

"So are you ready for your training?" Daniels asked, his breath on my neck.

"Bring it on."

* * *

"You're being a baby, and not to mention acting like a wimp. You'll never beat…" Daniels rattled on.

"Daniels stop it." I snapped at him, tears brimming in my eyes. "I know alright, just back off!"

I drooped my head as I held my left shoulder with my right hand. While I was doing one of my reps during the workout, I must have done something with my arm the wrong way, because now, my good old shoulder was ripping with pain. My spirits were breaking every time the pain got to me. I got somewhat hurt, only hours away from my match tonight. I was definitely doomed now.

"Don't you go blaming this on me." Daniels growled at me, not liking my temper.

I stood up confidently.

"Did I say I blamed you? No I didn't!" I brushed past him, walking towards the women's locker room.

I opened the door roughly, and after seeing no one in the large room, plopped down onto the bench below my locker and put my head in my hands. The tears flowed from my eyes as dread crept into my body. There was no way I was going to win tonight. I was toast. I would never prove to everyone that I was good enough to be here.

"McMahon. Don't tell me you're in there bawling your eyes out." Daniels said through the door.

"Ugh!" I growled angrily. This man was starting to get me very angry. First he was nice, then he was rude, and then he was unbearable. Could he not just pick a state and keep it.

"Fuck off Daniels!" I threw at him.

"Hey just hurry it up in there, I want to get going to the arena, and we planned I was just going to drive us both." Daniels called.

I groaned. I mentally hit myself for making that plan with him.

"So just hurry it up and get showered, changed and whatever. I'm not going to wait forever."

I glared at the closed door before standing up. I grabbed my regular clothes before heading to the public showers.

"Oh and McMahon, I know you'll do good tonight."

A small smile appeared on my face before I entered the showers.

* * *

"Nervous?" a voice asked from behind me as I was walking slowly through the halls of the studio later that night.

I whipped around to face Raven. I shrugged as I stopped walking.

"Good, you should be." He told me, pushing him up onto a crate to the side, sitting on it.

I walked over and stood beside him, looking off at the wall in front of us on the other side of the hall.

"Thanks." I said sarcastically.

"It wasn't meant to be cruel. Its good you're nervous, you're supposed to be. You're not supposed to be prepared for the hell you most likely are going to be put through out there. If you're cocky, you lose." Raven told me in that solitary tone.

I contemplated his words before looking up at him.

"Do you think I can beat them Rav?" I asked him quietly.

Raven looked at me through the corner of his eyes. "That depends on you. You have the heart and determination, but are you ultimately prepared? That's the question that should be racking your mind. Are you ready for what's to come? If you are ready, you can beat them. But then what? Will you gain anyone's respect? Who knows? Will Jarrett automatically start liking you? Never will happen. But if you aren't ready, and you lose, what happens then? Will everyone lose any respect they have for you? Will the friends that depended on you abandon you when they see you aren't the one to defeat their biggest enemy? Who knows? What will you win either way, and what will you lose? Think about that."

I watched with confused eyes as he jumped down with grace off the crate. He then turned fully towards me and put a hand on my shoulder.

"To make you feel any better, I wont abandon you either way. And I believe you'll do your best, no matter what the outcome." He shot me a very small smile before walking past me.

"Thanks." I said more to myself.

What he had said now racked through my brain. I was truthfully only 30 minutes away from the match. I now had doubt churning in the deep of my stomach. I knew one thing though, Raven was right. All I had now was to think if I was ready enough. And what's going to happen afterwards.

* * *

"You ready?" Daniels asked me.

"No." I said nervously, peering up through the darkened tunnel.

"You'll do good no matter what." Ray told me.

I nodded.

It was time. The match was only minutes away. In mere seconds I'll be walking through that tunnel and down to the ring with Daniels and Team 3D at my side. It felt so, unrealistic that tonight finally came. I had acted so cockily about the match before, but now that I'm about to go into it, I felt doubt and fear, the two worst things you could ever feel before a match.

"McMahon, go." Daniels pushed me slightly as his/my music began playing.

I took a deep breath in and out before walking through that tunnel. As soon as the fans saw me, a chorus of cheers rang out. That was the only thing that comforted me as I walked with the other three to the six-sided ring. Their cheers of encouragement were the only thing that helped me slip into that ring.

"This is it McMahon." Daniels started once the three were in the ring with me. "This is your time to beat them. This is probably your only time to be in the main event so make it a good one."

"Daniels!" Devon glared at him. "Hun, don't worry a thing, we're here to help you. Why do you think Larry made this a no disqualifications match as well. He knew you would need help, so he gave you help without officially changing the match. We will help you."

"But we'll also let you fight your fight. We believe in you. You can do it. And no matter what, we're proud of you Tess." Ray gave me an encouraging smile.

Daniels rolled his eyes before Jarrett's music rang through the Impact Zone. Choruses of boos rang from the fans. The four of us watched closely as Jarrett, Storm, and Harris strode down to the ring and swiftly got in, watching us with smirks and cold eyes.

"Alright, we'll be right outside the ring. You'll do fine." Ray told me before starting to climb out of the ring.

Devon gave me a small smile before following.

"You will do fine." Daniels told me. "Last piece of advice, stick with you quick paced moves, these guys are good, but they aren't X Division fast. You have that speed, and I trained you with it, so use it, it'll give you at least some advantage. And for god sakes, believe in yourself, everyone else out there in that crowd believes in you. Your friends believe in you, Ray and Devon believe in you and…I believe you can pull this off. So trust yourself"

I nodded in slight shock. Daniels returned the gesture before leaving the ring.

"And now, for tonight's Main Event. A No Disqualification Handicap match. The rules are; only one man from the team of Jarrett and AMW can be in the ring at a time, but there are no limitations, any weapon is allowed, any interference. The only way to win is a submission or pin fall. And now for your contenders. In her first ever TNA PPV match, with Team 3D and the Fallen Angel Christopher Daniels in her corner, hailing from Stamford Connecticut, she is, The Dark Angel, TESS! And on the other side of me, you have the team of The NWA Tag Team Champions, Wildcat Chris Harris and Cowboy James Storm, Americas Most Wanted. And as their partner, hailing from Nashville Tennessee, The NWA World Heavyweight Champion Of The World, Jeff Jarrett!"

I breathed in deeply. This was going to be a long night

* * *


	13. Chapter Twelve

_Italics _is Christopher Daniels at ring side

- -Is Raven in the back

# # Is Jarrett in the ring

' ' Tess' thoughts

**Chapter Twelve:**

**_Ding Ding Ding_**

_Time for you to shine McMahon._

-Come on Tess, don't let that bastard run you, beat his ass.-

# Ha look at that little girl, she looks scared. This will be easy #

I took a deep breath. This was it.

I watched as Jarrett, Storm and Harris deliberated, throwing dirty glances over at me. Eventually, Jarrett and Harris went through the ropes, with Storm remaining in the ring. I braced myself as Storm smirked and took a step forward. I narrowed my eyes and followed his movement as he walked around the ring slowly. Once he got within about 10 feet of me, I began moving as well, knowing that if I stopped, it would give Storm the advantage to take me down. So I slowly walked, keeping my eyes focused on Storm's. Most would have thought this to be a great strategy, but when I felt an elbow knock me in the back of the head, realization came back that I not only had to be prepared of the attacks the man in the ring would bring, but also of the other two at the ropes.

I grabbed the back of my head before stepping back and turning towards the two. Jarrett and Harris held twin smirks on their face, their eyes boring into mine.

'Bastards'

It was then that Storm grabbed me from behind and delivered a neck breaker. I cringed and grabbed my neck as I hit the mat. I heard Storm laughing, which only drove me more into focus. I grunted as I pulled myself up, ready to strike back. But my plan was ruined as soon as I was stable on my feet. Storm immediately threw a flying shoulder tackle into me, knocking me backwards onto the mat.

_Come on McMahon!_

I groaned softly as I rolled over onto my stomach and got up on my knee's with my hands balancing myself out. I soon felt a strong kick to the ribs, causing me to fall back to the mat once again. I hit the mat with my palm before I got up, frustrated with myself.

'Come on, I can do this. I just have to stay focused.'

"What's wrong McMahon? Giving up already?" Storm shouted at me with a laugh.

My eyes narrowed. No way was I a quitter. I hate to compare myself to the rest of my family, but in this instance I have to. McMahon's don't give up. We always get what we want, one way or another.

I gathered my strength and determination up and quickly stood up. Storm threw a punch at me but I swiftly blocked with the side of my arm. This gave me the advantage to throw one back at him, which I greatly took. Storm's face grew shocked that I had actually gotten a hit in. I smirked at him before giving him the finger. I then did a toe kick and grabbed his head, giving him a swift DDT.

-That's what I'm talking about. Come on Tess, mess with them, and show those nincompoops that u mean business.-

I got up and smirked at my handiwork. Storm rolled a few feet away, holding his head while cursing at me. I was going to attack him some more, but I felt the mat move, as if someone else had entered. I whipped around and ducked quickly, just barely missing a clothesline from Harris. But the next one I wasn't as lucky. Jarrett ran at me as I just straightened and too caught up to notice until his inner arm connected with my neck, shoving me to the mat.

'Fuck, never saw that one coming.'

I felt hands grab my long hair and dragged me up to my feet. My head was then flung back, making me look into the cold and cruel eyes of the King Of The Mountain, Jeff Jarrett.

"Ready to give up yet?" Jarrett asked snidely.

I mustered up all the courage I had, and all the mucus I had and spat into the face of the NWA World Heavyweight Champion. I believe Jarrett was shocked as he pushed my body away and wiped my spit off his face. I smirked at the surprise mixed with anger on the champs face. He didn't expect me to throw that at him.

_Nice touch, except now you're going to have to pay the consequences for that. For god sakes McMahon, watch your back!_

I suddenly felt two arms wrap around my ankles and drag me down to the mat while pulling me out of the ring, and to the mat floor. I hit the hard mats with a gruff before turning my head only to see Storm's smirking face. I glared at him before getting up and going for a punch. But Storm seemed prepared for this as he grabbed my arm and threw his own punch. I grunted as I stumbled back. Storm then grabbed my arm and Irish whipped me into the steel steps. A groan escaped my lips as pain pierced through my body.

"Hey, back into the ring." The ref coaxed Storm, standing in between my painful body and Storm. I held my lower back while on the ground, watching as Storm backed away and slipped into the ring.

"What did I say about their momentum, think fast and high flying McMahon." Daniels voice came through my ear as he helped me up.

I looked at him before nodding. I touched my back once more before sliding into the ring. I saw that the ref had gotten then three under control. I had also noticed that Storm was now on the apron, and Harris was in his place. I narrowed my eyes but remembered what Daniels had said. My best bet was to go for the fast pace moves, as these guys weren't used to it. So I somehow had to get my momentum started. I figured I'd just get out of the way of the lariat that Harris was trying to throw at me first. So I dodged to the side as he stumbled past me. I went for a long shot and jumped up and kicked out an enzuigiri, knocking Harris off balance. I smiled as I quickly went for a spinning kick, knocking him fully to the mat. I saw as he was in the perfect position for a springboard off the ropes, so, just exactly as Daniels does, I ran to the middle of the closest ropes and jumped up onto the second rope and flying backwards onto the body of Harris. I heard him gasp in pain as I connected.

The crowd cheered, or so I scarcely heard. I was so in tune with winning this match I tuned out all outside noise, trying to just focus on what I had to do in the ring.

Watching as Harris tried to stumble up onto his feet, holding his abdomen, I smirked slightly as I thought quickly of what to do next. I figured my best bet was to keep Harris going down to the mat, either that or the ground, so I waited for the best moment as Harris turned his back to me slightly. Right when he was facing the crowd I ran to the ropes behind me, bounced off them for momentum and jumped up right before I got to Harris and drop kicked him right over the ropes. He hit the apron for a brief moment before hitting the hard mats. Before I could try anything else though I fell to my knees as I was hit at the back of my head from behind.

'Fuck right when I was on a roll'

I then felt a kick to my back. I cringed but kept my balance on my knees. But then a drop kick to my back was thrown and I fell to my stomach. I grabbed my back with my hand, trying to catch my breath. I didn't have much time as I was dragged to my feet by whoever was behind me. I moved my glance as I noted that it was in fact Storm who had done the previous attacks. Storm smirked down at me before diving me head first into the middle part of the turnbuckle. I groaned as I grabbed my head, which was now filled with pain.

"Chris, double." Storm shouted at Harris who was just now returning into the ring.

I shook my head, trying to clear my pained head. But before I could fully, I was pulled from behind by Storm and grabbed from both arms, Storm on one side and Harris on the other. The two whipped me into the ropes and double-teamed me with a conjured up backdrop. The next thing I knew I landed on the mat in agony.

_Come on damn it! This is getting pathetic now._

Storm immediately covered me for the pin, but my shoulder flew up before the three count. I feel the ring below me shudder as Storm, frustrated, got up and roughly picked me up. He held me into place, holding both my arms to keep me in place. I lifted my sagging head to find Harris at the other side of the ring, bent low, looking ready to attack. And soon he did. He ran forward, and at the last second, Storm let me go as Harris tackled me down with a spear to the mat. I cried out in pain as my whole body was shoved down and into a pin. I tried to focus through the pain and lifted my shoulder just in the nick of time, keeping me in this match. Like Storm, Harris too got up, frustrated, and started to argue with the ref, who was also at the same time trying to get Storm behind the ropes. As they we both preoccupied, I rolled out of the ring, trying to by myself some time to gather my strength back up.

I fell out onto the mat's, landing on my back. I cringed at the slight pain I retrieved. I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to get the pain to go away. But to no avail, my ribs and abdomen, not to mention the back that I had landed on, was throbbing in uncontrollable pain. Spears were one of the worst moves. It felt as if your body was going to sap in half when it connected. It always took minutes to get out shaken from that move.

"Tess." I heard my name from above me. "Tess, you're doing alright so far."

I opened my eyes to see Ray kneeling beside me, his upper body hanging over me, trying to make sure I'm ok. I grabbed my middle section, feeling the pain pulse through my veins.

"I can't do this." I whispered, my doubt taking the better of me.

"Don't say that, you can do this." Ray told me, encouraging me with a nod.

I returned it, only much weaker. Doubt started to accumulate now. Was it actually a realistic thought to think I can win against these three? All three men were twice as big as me almost, and had a lot more power then I did. Not to mention I had three of them in a no dq match, where almost anything goes. It wont be long until that guitar is taken out, or the infamous beer bottle is shoved across my head. It seemed nearly impossible to ever think I had a chance in winning against these three.

"Get her up already." I heard Daniels tell Ray.

I watched as ray glared slightly at the other man before he and Devon helped me to stand. But as I did, Harris came and baseball slid through the ropes, his feet connecting with the middle of my back. I fell forward onto the mats outside the ring, leaving the protective arms of Ray and Devon. I sighed in relief as I heard Ray and Devon start attacking Harris. That gave me at least a minute.

"Alright, come on McMahon, I've seen better from you. And I know what you're thinking." Daniels rolled me over and helped me to sit up. "You can do this for god sakes. Just do what I told you, keep it fast paced, keep with the kicks and the flips and the high spots. That's how you'll win."

"I tried that." I insisted with defeat. "They're to strong, and every time I hit a move and get them down another one just comes up and gets me down as well. Its impossible."

I felt Daniels sharply grab my chin with a hand, forcing me to painfully look at him.

"Stop complaining McMahon. Use your brain. They clearly won't. Those three are hot heads; they strike whenever, not thinking about their next move, or those of their opponents. You have to think ahead. Try to think of what they'll do when you do moves. Always keep the three in check."

Daniels kept a series look between us. "Understand?"

I looked at him with intensity, comprehending what he had just said.

"Good. Now go, Rey and Devon have got Harris and it looks like Storm covered. I'll help them. You go get Jarrett and knock his ass off."

Daniels let go of my chin, allowing me to nod. He stood up, lending down a hand for me to grab. I did so, and with his help, got up to my feet.

"Go." He ushered.

I nodded again before running as best as I could and slid into the ring. I got into the middle and started taunting Jarrett, making him come out from behind the ropes.

"Come on Jarrett, bring it on." I spoke loudly.

Jarrett narrowed his blue cold eyes before swiftly going through the ropes and rushed at me. As he did so, I levered myself up and pulled off a hurricarana, flipping Jarrett over onto his back. I quickly ran to the ropes for momentum and speed before plummeting my leg into his skull. I watched as he grabbed his head before seeing Ray and Devon being brought to their knees from the fist attacks of AMW. I noticed Daniels was lying across the steel steps. Like Daniels said, I had to work and watch for all three. So while I had Jarrett on the mat at my mercy, I ran to the ropes behind me, bounced off them and pull off a pretty good Tope Suicida through the middle and top rope, knocking the standing tag team to the ground. I shook my head as I took the slight twinge of pain and shook it off. I immediately started kicking at the two, trying to keep them down. But as I was kicking Harris, Storm had gotten up and grabbed my hair from behind. I tried grabbing at his hands, but he wouldn't budge. He dragged me by the hair over a few steps before whipping me head first, into the same steel steps that Daniels had already been crashed into. I cried out in agony as I felt my forehead split wide-open, blood starting to pour already down from it. I touched my head, but flinched as soon as I did.

I felt Storm trying to grab me again but I gave him a low blow, trying to keep him back so I could get the initial pain gone. After a few seconds, I got some strength back so I took my clear advantage and climbed the steps before jumping off them, double kicking the chest of Storm as I did so. With Storm I crashed to the mats below the ring. I blinked before slowly getting back up, noticing Harris was coming towards me, chair in hand. I ducked his first swing, moving around his body. I then kicked him in the back, pushing him down, and falling over Storms kneeled over body. I saw their position, and made a quick decision. It might be a lethal and deadly one, but one that just had to work. I climbed onto the apron and up the turnbuckle until I was at the top. I looked down before balancing myself up. I quickly flew off the top of the turnbuckle, fixing in a shooting star press onto the two bodies on the outside.

'Damn that hurt, but at least it connected.'

I grabbed my midsection as I slowly got up. Those two were down for now. I can at least try and get Jarrett worn out. So I slid back slowly into the ring, only to notice Jarrett was up and waiting for me with his blue guitar in hand. I ducked his swing attempt and kicked with a toe kick. He doubled over, guitar still in hand. I ran to the ropes behind me and bounced off them, about to take Jarrett's head and whip him fast first into the mat. But my plan failed as Jarrett stood up straight and right as I was about to go for him, he swung his guitar out, and connected clearly with my unprotected head. I reeled back, my back hitting the mat loudly. I felt the blood winding its way down past my eyes and nose, falling to the mat below me. I closed my eyes for a second, only to feel Jarrett go for the pin.

"1…2…"the ref began to count.

But a miracle happened and someone had grabbed a hold of Jarrett's legs and had dragged him out of the ring. I rolled on my side and saw Daniels punching the living hell out of Jarrett. I smirked slightly before trying to stand up. With Harris and Storm still on the outside it looks like, with Ray and Devon standing over them to keep them down, and Jarrett being bruised up by Daniels, I finally had a long enough time to somewhat catch my breath.

I maneuvered my way to the corner and grabbed onto the two ropes as I slowly began to move myself to my feet. I eventually got there, but still not stable. I leant against the ropes, catching my breath. After what felt like forever, but in reality was only a minute, I felt good enough to battle on. I looked over at Daniels and caught his eyes. Daniels nodded as he grabbed Jarrett's hair and got him to his feet, standing him there facing me. I returned the nod before bouncing off the ropes and diving straight out over the top rope, right onto Jarrett. I slowly got off of him, finally hearing the crowd as they cheered louder then I've ever heard them before. I smiled as I felt someone clap my shoulder. I turned into the smirking face of Daniels.

"Now that's getting somewhere."

I smiled slightly before noticing Storm was finally up and had gotten past Ray and Devon. Daniels looked over his shoulder before looking back at me.

"Roundhouse kick?"

I nodded before we both ran at Storm and preformed a double roundhouse kick, knocking him back down. I had a slightly rush coming from that move, as I had never done a double team move before, and it being with the guy who I thought hated the living hell out of me. I guess mutual hates get to you at some point and decide to help each other. The rush ended when the all too familiar Canadian anthem blasted throughout the impact zone. My face paled as I just realized Daniels and I were standing right below the heel's ramp where Team Canada came rushing down from.

"Crap." I heard Daniels mutter.

"What now oh brilliant one?" I asked

"Duck."

I did as he told, both just barely dodging the two hockey sticks that were swung at us. But even though they didn't hit us, the actual members of Team Canada did. I watched as A1 and Bobby Roode grabbed a hold of Daniels and crashed him head first into the guardrails. I winced as Petey Williams grabbed me by the hair and whipped me over the guardrails opposite if the ones Daniels was crashed into, and into the cheering crowd. I grabbed my bleeding head from the impact.

"Get up." I heard Williams shout at me from the other side of the guardrail.

I looked up at him from my position on the ground. I narrowed my eyes as his smirk drilled a whole through me. I continued to glare at him as I slowly stood up. I kept my gaze on him as I slowly backed up through gap the crowd was now making for me.

"Come on Williams." I ushered him to follow me.

Williams smirked for a moment before nodding and climbing over the guardrails. I smirked as I continued to back up and just waiting for him to get close enough. As soon as I got Williams in my reach, I began throwing punches, one at a time. After each punch, Williams stumbled farther and farther away, giving me room to back up. But eventually, my punches started to wane off and not give out as much power as before. This gave him a shot at tackling me, which Williams of course did. I grabbed my mid section as I landed on my back, but wouldn't give up. I climbed back to my feet, ready to take the offence. But what I didn't know was that out through the audience behind me were Eric Young and his trusty hockey stick, which was then smashed over my head. I fell flat on my face from the impact, allowing Williams to start kicking my back and at my ribs. I groaned and winced in pain at each kick.

"Eric, Petey, bring her back." Jarrett's voice ordered.

I then felt the two members of team Canada grab me up by my arms and drag me back to where the guardrails were. As we reached them, I was again, thrown over them.

'This really isn't going well anymore.'

In the very brief moment that I wasn't attacked, I tried to search for where Ray, Devon and Daniels were. I soon found Ray and Devon battling AMW, about to send Storm through a table. It took me another second, but I soon found Daniels, blood pouring down his face, which was completely covered, but he fought back against Roode and A1, finally getting the upper hand. I, meanwhile, braced my self as I was pulled up to my feet by Jarrett.

"You thought you were pretty smart huh? I always will outsmart you though McMahon. I have people, who else do you have?"

I smirked as the familiar music that belonged to Terry blasted into the arena. Jarrett threw me back into the arms of Williams and Young, who grabbed tightly onto either side of me, while he went and tried to attack the running Terry. But to no avail, Terry gored him down the ramp, getting a loud cheer from crowd.

"Go help Jeff, Eric." Petey ordered Young.

I looked at the two as I saw Eric start to shake his head before finally nodding and letting one of my arms go to throw a double axel on the pounding Terry. I tried to, with my free arm, elbow Williams in the gut to get free, but he knew my plan and caught my arm and twisted both at the same time. I winced, but continued to struggle. Williams began to get frustrated with me so he grabbed my hair and shoved my head down hard onto the top of the guardrail. My vision began to grow fuzzy as he grabbed my arms once again, but making me kneel in front of him. My body hanged loosely, as well as my head. I tried closing my eyes, to get my straight vision back, but this only caused more dizziness and my vision to wane even more then before. I groaned from the heavily amount of pain as well as blood loss. I kept my eyes closed, hoping for this to all past. But after a moment, I found it was too hard to even try to open them.

"Oh shit." Williams voice came out in panic.

From the buzz of his voice and being thrown back onto the mats, I tried to again open my eyes. But it grew too hard. My breathing started to falter as I listened to what was going on. I could hear someone getting thrown into the steps, and that cry of pain sounded a lot like Williams. Terry must have been gaining on them.

"Tess, come on Tess, open your eyes, come on Hun." Terry's voice rang threw my ears softly.

I moaned, trying to, but nothing happening.

"Come on, please Tess, you have to open your eyes or you'll lose. I don't have much time; Williams and young are starting to get up. Jarrett is a being taken care of by Ray, and Daniels is heading over here now, Devon covering A1, Roode being unconscious. Come on Tess."

I heard his voice, I heard the urgency, but I just couldn't get my eyes open or fasten my now slow breathing.

"Go, take care of Williams and Young, I'll get her awake." Daniels knelt down beside me, or so it sounded like.

"You sure?" Terry asked.

"Yes, now go, they're coming over here." Daniels said urgently.

I then felt a hand on the back of my head, lifting it as well as my back so my body was in a 90-degree angle. He then leaned my back against him up bent leg, giving me support. Daniels kept his hand behind me head as his other took my chin.

"McMahon, come on now, open those eyes. I know you can hear me and I know you're trying but I need you to try harder." He told me. "Come on McMahon, think about what will happen if you keep those eyes closed. Jarrett will win and you'll never live it down. They'll keep after you until you can't walk anymore. They'll make sure that you'll be out of this business forever. Now I know you don't want that. So try harder and hurry it up."

I listened as he talked, knowing everything me said was right. I had to open my eyes, if I didn't I might as well just quit as I would be kicked and battered until I could no longer stand. I couldn't, wouldn't let that happen. I had to win; I had to show those three and everyone else that I can do this, that this fight is one I can win. So as if a miracle happened, my eyes began to flutter open until I could clearly see Daniels looking down at me.

"Finally, took you long enough." He smirked.

I snickered before putting a hand to my head. I winced as pain shuddered through me. I felt a hand grab my own and take it away.

"Don't touch it, it'll only make it worse." Daniels told me, his hand still on my wrist.

I nodded.

"Ready to get up?" he asked.

I took a few breaths before nodding.

"Alright, slowly so you don't take too much out of you." Daniels said.

I nodded again before I felt Daniels slip his hand into my hand, the same one he was holding the wrist of, as he also took a hold of my other hand and began to slowly pull me up. Once I was up, I stumbled forward, only for Daniels to catch me around the shoulders.

"Watch it. All right, I'm going to keep Harris and Storm in check while you…" Daniels started before he fell to the ground.

My eyes widened as I looked up into the face of Wildcat Chris Harris, steel chair in hand. He smirked at me as I began to walk backwards. But I only tripped on my feet and fell flat on my ass onto the ramp. My eyes widened even more as I saw him laugh and drop the chair to the side, bringing out a pair of handcuffs from his spandex. Dread began to fill my body as he grabbed my hair and dragged me to the nearest ring post. I fought against him, but found he was way too strong for me. But I didn't give up as he handcuffed one hand before lifting it above my head and wrapped the handcuff around the post and cuffing my second hand. I tried to break them, do anything to get out of the vulnerable spot I was in. but I couldn't. The only thing I could do was kick. But as Harris was a mere inch away from me, kicking didn't help me much. I held a breath in as Harris grabbed my chin before throwing a punch to the side of my head. My head whipped to the side at the force.

"Wish you hadn't come to TNA now huh McMahon." He taunted with a snide laugh. "Look at you. Bloody, barely conscious. Just give up now McMahon and we wont hurt you too much more."

I narrowed my eyes. I was tired of his loud mouth. I was tired of the taunting. Just as I did earlier to Jarrett, I mustered up all my mucus and shot a spit in Harris' face. Harris stumbled back in shock, giving me the opportune to pull off a roundhouse kick. Harris reeled back, shocked again. Harris narrowed his eyes before walking back over to where he had left the chair. My eyes widened, knowing what he was going to do. But just as Harris was walking back to me, someone dodged out and tackled him to the ground, pounding at his stomach. I smiled slightly at the sight of Devon. My smile soon faded as I felt another chair take impact with my abdomen. I cried out in pain as I felt a crack in my ribs.

"Hey bitch, why don't you hurry it up and give up and quit already, then when you're finally gone from TNA, we can go out on the town, always thought you were one hot bitch." Storm's disturbing voice whispered into my ear before he took a swing of his still standing bear bottle.

I snorted between gasps of air. "Who the hell would go out with a drunk ass like you?"

I saw Storm narrow his eyes before looking at his beer bottle. A smirk appeared on his face, and I braced myself as the bottle smashed right over my head, pieces flying everywhere.

"Hey Storm, over here cowboy." Ray's voice came from behind Storm.

Storm whipped around and came face to face with a chair. I smirked slightly through the pain as Storm fell to the ground, not moving.

"How you hanging in there Tess?" Ray asked, looking at the handcuffs.

"Tons of fun." I said sarcastically before regaining my sense of humor. "And nice pun by the way."

"Leave it up to you in a more then serious moment like this to realize when someone says a pun." Ray said, amused.

I smiled slightly. "So, anyway to get me down from here?"

"Ref! Yo Ref! We need a key." Ray shouted at the overwhelmed ref that had lost control long ago.

The ref nodded before running up the ramp and to the back.

"Just hang in there Tess, we'll get you down in no time." Ray assured me.

I nodded before snorting. "Can't go much of anywhere now can I ray?"

I saw Ray roll his eyes before noticing Jarrett was on his way over to us.

"Be back in a minute." Ray told me before running at Jarrett.

I sighed, trying to regain my strength back. Meanwhile, I looked around at what was happening. Daniels had just given Williams a hurricarana while Young lay there not moving, probably unconscious. Devon was still fighting Harris who was bleeding almost as much as me now. Terry had A1 out in the crowd, giving a nice hardcore fight. And Ray was trying to fight off Jarrett, who was starting to regain his strength back. Storm, who I had noticed was starting to stir, was still lying beside me on the mat, so worry began to creep back through me. The worry was a good touch as once Storm had recovered, he got up, narrowed his eyes at me before grabbing the fallen chair and looking like a mad man.

'Fuck'

That was when it hit. Raven's music hit the arena, shocking everyone, even myself. I watched though, as Storm paled considerably and threw the chair down as Raven came running down the ramp in front of us and clotheslined him. He then took Storm up by the hair and threw him into the crowd, making sure he wouldn't get up for a bit. I sighed in relief as Raven then came to my side, holding a bright shiny key.

"Looking for this?" he smirked.

He then unlocked the handcuffs, letting my stinging wrists free. But, as I had been hit a few times from being handcuffed, I fell limply to the ground. Or I would have if Raven hadn't caught me and lowered me down so I was in between his two knees, but facing him.

"You okay?" he asked, touching my bloodied forehead.

"Been better." I said groggily.

"Ok, well just hold in there kid, the ref's come back, he was right behind me, and Devon is slipping Harris into the ring as we speak. I'm going to help you into the ring, and the you're going to put an arm over Harris alright?" Raven informed me.

I nodded my head slowly, ready to get up.

"Alright, come on."

Raven helped me stand and helped me slide into the ring with some difficulty, but it happened nonetheless. I saw Devon usher the ref into the ring right as I lazily slid an arm over Harris.

"1……2….."

-Come on-

_Come on let it be three_

"……3!"

The crowd cheered and jumped up and down. I grinned as I rolled over onto my back, taking a breather.

"You did it!" Devon knelt beside me, helping me to sit up, with me leaning against his arms.

I continued to smile as I rested my palms on the mat.

"I did it." I said softly.

"Yeah you did. I'm proud of you…oh crap…"

I felt a bang and Devon went down. I moved my head and saw Jarrett standing there with a chair in hand, angrier then ever.

'Oh no'

And with one swing of his arm, my body snapped to the side, and my vision blurred…

* * *

**A/N: the match is up. how was it first of all? its kind of my first real long match that i've written. i hope its okay. i tried putting some real action in, but as well as the ruthless agression that Jarrett adn them would show towards someone in a match like that. anyways, what do you think?**


	14. Chapter Thirteen

**Chapter Thirteen:**

"All of you I want to go to the hospital." Larry told Ray, Devon, and Daniels.

"We're fine Zbyszko." Daniels told him, watching as the EMT's rolled the stretcher with his manager on it through the back area and towards the parking lot where the ambulance(s) were situated. "I'm going to go with her though, so I'll get checked up if I need to."

"We'll go with her too." Ray insisted.

Larry nodded. "Make sure she doesn't come back for a few weeks. And if you three don't feel up to the taping Tuesday then just call and let me know."

"Will do. We better go though." Devon nodded towards Larry before the three walked, more like limped towards where the EMT's had just gone.

"God that was one hell of a fight." Ray mused.

"Tell me about it. I just hope she's alright." Devon nodded, speaking of Tess.

"She'll be fine." Daniels said in a quiet tone. _I hope_.

"Hopefully. At least she proved something to everyone." Ray stated.

"Maybe now she'll be accepted a bit more in the back." Devon agreed.

"Are you three coming?" an EMT asked as they reach the ambulance.

"If there's room." Ray nodded.

"There's room for those who look like they need it. Climb on in, we'll have Ted and I try to clean you guys up a bit." The EMT smiled.

"Thanks." Devon smiled back before he entered the back of the ambulance.

Ray followed in, with Daniels going in second last. The EMT fell in behind, signifying for the driver that they can go in a second. As soon as the EMT closed the door, the engine roared and the sirens blasted, the ambulance now driving through the streets.

Ray and Devon talked quietly as they were handed cloths to try to wipe the blood off their face. Daniels was handed one from the EMT to his left, but he just left it lying on his lap. He just couldn't pry his eyes from the lifeless form of Tess. He hated her, well he used to. He didn't exactly hate her, just what she was. He never wanted a manager, they just weighed him down. He never wanted her to be his manager. If she was just another person backstage he might even like her, but since she was the manager he never wanted to have, he hated, or did hate her. He didn't know anymore. He felt a weird emotion. It was like, he cared that she was hurt so badly. And even as much as he said she would be fine, he knew she wouldn't truly. She took so many shots to the head that she must have a bad concussion, and a few breaks and bad cuts, and probably even bigger injuries. He knew she wasn't all right, hell; she might not even be all right mentally. After a match like that, if you had never endeared one like it before, it can cause effects on you. It can change you, and sometimes not for the better.

But he hoped, even though he didn't know why, he hoped that the lifeless body would soon become the woman he hated for being his manager.

* * *

POV ON

* * *

"Oh god I hope she's ok." A males voice stated from my left. 

I groaned as the soft voice sounded like freight train running right beside me.

"Tess? Are you awake?" the voice asked.

I groaned again before moving my hand a bit.

"Tess, come on, wake up, you've been unconscious for days now." The voice urged me.

Once again I groaned, but I tried to follow what he voice asked of me. I began to slowly open my eyes, twinge by twinge. Eventually I had them open, though my vision had a touch of blurriness to it. I blinked a few times, clearing my vision up before turning to see who the voice belonged too. I smiled slightly as I saw the worried face of Jeff.

"Hey Mr. Tie Dye." I said groggily.

"Hey Mckid. How are you feeling?" he asked, taking my hand in his own.

"Hurt all over." I stated, trying to sit up, but feeling too much pain.

"Here let me help you." Jeff said as he softly helped me to sit up against my pillows.

"Thanks. I won right?" I asked.

Jeff grinned and nodded. "Yeah you did. I'm proud of you Hun, I really am. So is everyone out there."

"Whose out there?" I wanted to know.

"Carrie, Raven, Terry, Devon, Ray, and Daniels. The last three just got out of their own rooms yesterday afternoon and decided to wait around here for you." Jeff informed me.

I nodded. "How are they?"

"Banged up, and have minor concussions, but nothing serious." Jeff assured me.

"How bad am I?" I asked, not really wanting to know the answer.

Jeff frowned. "You have a grade three concussion, which is really bad. A few broken ribs, some cuts, bruises, you're shoulder was a bit dislocated so that's why its in a sling."

I nodded, my questions to why my arm was in a sling was answered.

"So how long was I out?" I asked.

"Well it's Tuesday evening." He stated.

"Why are you all here then, shouldn't you be at the…" I was confused.

"Its late Tuesday evening, 11 to be exact. We came here right after the show, and Ray, Devon, and Daniels didn't go, so they where here during that." Jeff told.

"Wow. So what happened?" I asked.

"The usual, Jarrett complained about a girl beating them, said it was just luck. Got angry at Terry and Raven for helping. And got really mad at Daniels, since he was the one that gave him the brutal take down after he knocked you out after the match." Jeff smiled slightly.

"Daniels did what?"

"After you were hit with the chair, Daniels got into the ring, started to beat down Jarrett using his faithful moves, and then just used the chair for some shots before the refs and security guards stopped him."

I smiled slightly.

"Yeah, so we're thinking that this is all going to lead up to Daniels getting a shot at the title. Which would fit, because you would still be involved." Jeff mused.

"Cool." I said softly before my glance fell to the hospital room door. "Hi."

I watched as Daniels nodded, never taking his eyes off mine.

"Um, well I'm going to go tell the gang that you're awake now. Carrie's been worried sick about you. Oh and remind me I have a huge surprise for you back at the apartment when you get out all right?" Jeff told me, letting go of my hand before standing up.

I smiled. "Will do."

Jeff returned the smile before walking past Daniels, and towards the waiting room. I then refocused my eyes on Daniels, wondering why he was here.

"Congratulations on the win." He stated, looking a bit uncomfortable.

"Thanks." I said awkwardly. "Wouldn't have done it without everyone's help though."

Daniels shrugged.

"How's you're head?" I asked, nodding towards the bandage that was on his forehead.

"It's fine, just had to get a few stitches. How are you?" he asked.

I shrugged. "I've been better. You can come in you know."

Daniels looked behind him for a moment before stepping more into the room, finally sitting down where Jeff was earlier. I looked down at my lap, where my free hand was laying. An eerie silence fell over us, neither knowing really what to say.

"Thanks…" I started.

"What?" he asked, confused.

"Thanks for the help during the match." I told him, looking over at him.

Daniels shrugged. "We all hated him so it was no big deal."

"No." I stopped him. "I meant thank you for making me keep fighting. I wouldn't have continued if it weren't for you. I would have given up and give them the satisfaction."

Daniels looked me in the eyes before looking down.

"Don't get all sappy McMahon." He muttered.

I chuckled slightly.

"I am glad you beat those bastards though." He stated.

"Yeah me too." I sighed. "Though I am amazingly sore from it."

I heard Daniels laugh slightly before looking up.

"I better go." He stood up.

"Thanks for staying around."

He nodded. "I'll see you in a few weeks I suppose. Ah, bye."

"Bye." I said as he walked out of the room.

* * *

**A/N: wow, i woke up this morning to a bunch of reviews. thats a great way to start the day. so i decided since all the chapters were a hit yesterday, i might as well keep adding. so expect a bunch more to come after this.**

**I have to say, after yesterday with everyone saying Daniels being the romance pairing, i slept on it, and it could work out really well. but then again, i love a twist, and i figured out something that will blow your socks off. so be prepared. but don't stop thinking who it could be. believe me, it can be anyone.**


	15. Chapter Fourteen

**Chapter Fourteen:**

"This so sucks." I moaned two weeks later.

Jeff laughed as he guided me through the hallway to our apartment. "It's only for another few weeks. You'll survive."

"A few weeks are a long time. Wrestling is my life. What else am I supposed to do, sit around staring at the TV?"

"But what if you had someone to spend it with someone." Jeff mused.

I looked at him before going to open the door I hadn't seen since before my match at bound for glory. They had kept me in that dreadful hospital longer than expected as my concussion had gotten more serious. I kept falling unconscious a lot, so they had to keep me under watch until I was downgraded in danger of concussions. But finally, and thankfully, I was able to come back home. Which I was more than happy to do.

"What are you talking about Jeff…." I started as I entered our apartment and let out a scream. "OH MY GOD! Jay!"

Standing there in the living room was none other than Jay Reso (better known as Christian). I couldn't believe it. I hadn't seen him in so long. We, like Jeff and I, were pretty close, so seeing him here was beyond awesome.

"You gonna come give me a hug TM?" Jay smiled.

I squealed before lunging at him, clutching onto him tightly.

"Nice to see you too TM." Jay laughed as he hugged me back.

"I can't believe you're here!" I exclaimed, ending the hug and looking up at him.

Blue eyes met my own.

"Well I couldn't pass up a chance to see my fav girl now could I?" he smiled.

I returned the smile. "Wait, why are you here, shouldn't you be on the road with Smackdown?"

"Should have been, but usually when you quit, they tend to not want you to hang around all that much." He told me.

My mouth fell open. "Quit?"

Jay grinned. "Yep, got annoyed with the writers and everyone. So I eventually told them I was leaving the company. And wouldn't you know it, I got a call the day after the news got around by my second favourite girl, a miss Cassie Flair. Seems she thought I would be a good asset for TNA."

My eyes widened.

"So I signed a contract yesterday. I'm officially debuting at the next PPV." He finished.

"Oh my god! This is so awesome!" I exclaimed hugging him before letting go.

"Did I not tell you I had a surprise for you when I got you home." Jeff mused, walking into the adjoined kitchen.

"So you knew?" I turned to him.

Jeff nodded as he opened the fridge. "He called the same day of the pay per view, told me he was thinking about quitting and that he might be interested in coming down here. So I offered him a place to stay. Then he made his final decision and when he said he was signing with TNA, I told him he could just move in with us, as we do have another room."

"So you're living here? This is way cool." I breathed.

Jay laughed. "So I hear you're not gonna be doing much wrestling either for a bit, which gives us a whole lot of time to catch up. And for you to fill me in on everything I have to expect when I debut."

"First off, don't go into a handicap match with Jarrett and his lackeys." I chuckled.

"I'll remember that." Jay laughed. "Speaking of which, how are you feeling?"

"Pretty good, cept for this good old shoulder which I'll be happy when my arm is out of this sling." I glared at my arm before switching back to my cheerfulness.

"That's good."

* * *

"I'm so excited!" I jumped up and down on my sole of my feet. 

"Calm yourself TM." Jay wrapped an arm around my shoulders.

"Hey I can't help it, I'm just excited to get out of that apartment and come to an event finally. Oh yeah I forgot, I have to go surprise a Mr. Daniels and tell him about me running into his championship match tonight. So I'll see ya." I pulled away from jay and waved as I walked down the hall.

I walked quickly, this being the first time being back at the impact zone for a month now. I didn't want to get stopped by AMW, Jarrett or Team Canada on my first day back. I just needed to get to the locker room without any interruptions and my return will somewhat be a success.

"Hey McMahon!" a somewhat unfamiliar voice called to me.

I turned around and saw Matt Bentley and Traci Brooks walking towards me, hand in hand. I took a breath in, not knowing what to expect. My nerves lowered as I saw Matt smile towards me.

"Good match last month. Can't believe someone actually put them in their place." Matt nodded.

"Thanks." I retorted awkwardly.

"Oh, Shawn asked me to give this to you, and he says he and Chris Benoit are really proud of you or something like that." Matt handed me an envelope.

I took it and looked at it. I knew what he was talking about. Shawn Michaels was Matt's cousin, so it made sense that Matt would be the gopher.

"Tell him thanks from me." I told him.

Matt nodded before the two turned back around and walked back down where he came. I blinked and looked back down at the envelope. It meant a lot to me that Shawn, who I had known for the longest time, sent me something. And to know that he and, someone else who I was close to in the WWE, Chris Benoit, were proud of me, it just made everything feel so right.

"McMahon? What the hell are you doing here?" Daniels shocked voice came from behind me.

I grinned as I whipped around.

"Miss me?"

"No." he said simply.

"That's not nice Daniels." I placed my hands on my hips.

Daniels smirked. "So? Anyway, why are you here?"

"Got clearance yesterday afternoon. I'm running in tonight during your match." I informed him.

"Great." He said sarcastically before turning back around and walking away.

"Hey!" I exclaimed.

"Hey yourself, just stay out of my way McMahon, I'm not going to be responsible for you going to the hospital again tonight." He stated before turning the corner.

"Rude much? Always knew he was a bastard." I muttered, though sort of confused by the way he acted.

I shrugged it off before going to find Raven, since I hadn't seem him unlike everyone else. I found him soon enough in his dimly lit locker room, sitting on the farthest bench away from the locker room door. I knocked lightly on the slightly open door, waiting for a response. His head looked up slightly, his dark hair covering his eyes.

"Tess." He greeted. "Come in."

I nodded and walked in, closing the door behind me.

"How are you?" he stood up as he took a few steps forward.

I too stepped forward, meeting him halfway.

"Pretty good. I got cleared by the trainers and doctors yesterday." I shrugged.

"So interfering in the match then?" he guessed.

I smiled slightly. "Yep."

"Just watch yourself. You know the guys still hate you. They hate that you won against them so they'll be looking for your blood." Raven warned.

I sighed. "I know. But I'm a big girl Rav, I can handle myself."

"You sure about that?" he asked cocking his head to the side.

I looked at him, trying to get what he's talking about.

"Didn't you need our help to win that match? Was it not us that got you that win?" Raven asked, walking behind me.

I looked down. He was right. I say I can handle myself, but it was only a month ago I depended on everyone's help in order to win. My heart felt a slight pang as I realized that although I technically won the match, I didn't truly, they won it for me.

"But what do I know. I'm just some psychotic, insane man." his breath fell onto my neck as he whispered into my ear.

I scrunched up my eyebrows, trying to figure out what was happening here. I had the oddest feeling that everything wasn't how it should be. That something in this room was bad, evil even. I lifted my head, my eyes peering around the darker room. I could have sworn I saw shadows, but the second I saw them, they disappeared.

"Do you trust me Tess?" Raven asked then.

That was sort of an odd question to go with my odd feeling.

"Of course I do." I said, not as confident as I should have.

"Interesting." He mused.

"What's interesting?" I asked, clearly confused by now.

"You shouldn't." raven whispered before the lights were turned on.

My eyes widened as I saw eight men in front of me. All of Team Canada, AMW and Jeff Jarrett were standing there, smirking at me. So I had seen shadows before, just never thought it would be so many. My heart fell, as I knew another friend had just betrayed me. I just didn't understand why. Jarrett was the one who had stolen the title away from him in Canada, so why would Raven help him?

"Good to see you again McMahon. Must be feeling pretty proud of yourself, winning against us last month." Jarrett said with a snide, stepping forward.

I tried to step back and away from him, but I only walked into Raven who had latched an arm around my waist as well as my fallen arms so I couldn't move them. Fear crept into me, as I had no way out of this. I knew I shouldn't have come back.

"But see, now that you did, there's a thing called payback that you're just about to witness. You won't be in this company any longer if I have anything to say about it. Chris." Jarrett turned to Harris. "Guitar."

Harris nodded and handed over Jarrett's guitar. My eyes widened even more as I tried to struggle against Raven's hold. But he was way to strong for me. All I could do was stand there and wait for his guitar strike. It eventually came, opening my just heeled gash. I felt blood start to pour down my face from the shot.

"Look at her. Pathetic." Jarrett laughed.

Tears formed in my eyes at the vulnerable state I was in.

"Aww, don't cry yet McMahon, we're not even close to being done you."

* * *

POV OFF

* * *

"Where the hell is she, I need to know when she's going to run in." Daniels exclaimed, pacing Team 3D's locker room. 

"Dude, calm down. I'm sure she's here somewhere." Ray said reasonably, but also a bit worried.

"I've looked everywhere at least twice. There's no sign of her. I asked Jeff, Terry, and that new guy, I even asked other people, no one has seen her." Daniels told them, stopping. "Fuck."

"What?" Devon asked, looking at the younger man.

"I have to go." Daniels said quickly before rushing out of the room.

"What was that about?" Devon looked at Ray.

Ray shrugged.

Daniels meanwhile was running down the halls, trying to locate Styles. He was sure Styles would know if Jarrett and them had anything to do with this. Daniels soon found him in catering with Chris Sabin.

"Styles." Daniels said gruffly as he made his way over to him.

"What Daniels?" AJ looked at him impatiently.

"Where is she?" Daniels asked with a glare.

"Where's who?" AJ returned a question, confused.

"McMahon." Daniels said simply.

AJ shrugged. "I have no clue."

Daniels took a step forward. "Well she's disappeared and who do we know who hate her more then anything after last month. You better tell me where the fuck she is now Styles."

"And why would I know? And why do you care, you've always hated her." AJ raised an eyebrow in defense.

"Lets see you went behind her back and joined Williams. And I don't care, I…" Daniels trailed off, not really knowing where he was going with this.

"Petey and I aren't friends anymore. I couldn't take all his crap with Jarrett." AJ defended himself. "So I don't know where she is. But if they do have her she doesn't have a chance with how mad those guys are."

Daniels shot one more glare at him before walking out of catering. He had to find her. He didn't know why he needed to, he just did. And he knew they had her, he just didn't know where. Then a thought came to him. He hadn't checked Ravens room for her yet. He mentally hit himself, knowing she probably went to see him.

"Stupid." He muttered before walking off in that direction.

He soon enough got there, before knocking on the door.

"Raven…is McMahon in there with you?" Daniels asked.

No response came back, but he did hear noise coming from the room. Daniels narrowed his eyes, something fishy going on here.

"Raven?"

* * *

POV ON

* * *

My heart jumped as I heard Daniels' voice. I tried to call out to him, but Raven quickly put a hand over my mouth, stopping me from making a noise. 

"Hello?" Daniels asked again.

My heard raced. I needed to hit attention somehow. But how? I then saw Jarrett coming back towards me, chair in hand this time. I narrowed my eyes, and as soon as he raised the chair to hit me, quickly kneed him in the groin.

"You fucking bitch!" he yelled.

I hoped to god that got his attention

* * *

POV OFF

* * *

"What the hell was that?" Daniels muttered to himself. 

Something isn't right, he thought. Daniels continued to knock at the door, trying to even open it. But he found that it was locked. He cursed and tried to open it. But nothing worked.

"Daniels what are you trying to do?" AJ Styles asked from behind him.

"They're in there." Daniels glared.

AJ looked confused for a moment before realizing what he was talking about.

"Here let me help." AJ insisted, stepping forward.

Daniels stopped him. "Oh now you want to be nice towards her. After making her lock herself up in her room for days on end not eating or talking to anyone. I was the one who had to force her out of her room."

"Look, I regret ever doing that. I didn't know what got over me. I love that girl, she's been a better friend to me then Petey ever has been. I want to make everything right. So just move your stubborn ass so I can help." AJ said angrily.

Daniels looked at him for a moment. He was trying to decide if he should trust him or not. He eventually sighed and moved, seeing the actual regret and sorrow in AJ's blue eyes.

"It's locked. We have to find a way to kick it open or something." Daniels informed.

AJ nodded before pushing all his weight into the door. After it wouldn't budge, he kicked it. Still nothing.

"Move aside golden boy, you can't kick it right." Daniels pushed AJ away out of impatience.

AJ rolled his eyes but moved anyways. Daniels, just like AJ had, tried to kick the door. But still the door had not budged. And it was at that moment a muffled scream emitted from the room. The colour drained from the two men's face as Daniels continued to kick at the door.

"This is useless." Daniels said angrily.

"What if we kick at the same time?" AJ suggested.

Daniels shrugged but moved over a bit so they both could kick.

"At the count of three." AJ said. "1...2...3!"

With that the two men power kicked the door, with it finally swinging open. Shock filled their eyes as they saw Tess lying on the locker room floor, just barely moving.

* * *

POV ON

* * *

I couldn't believe what I saw. Daniels was standing in the now open doorway, with none other than AJ Styles. I just couldn't believe it. The thoughts soon raced out of my mind as I was kicked in my ribs. I winced in pain before seeing Daniels and Styles come into the room, trying to make their way over to me, where I was now being attacked on all sides by Team Canada. Jarrett, and AMW tried to hold the two off, and somewhat succeeded. But every time one of the two fell, they just got back up, determined. I had to smile slightly before my mind came back to what was happening in front of me. I was now being dragged up to my knees by Young and held there while Williams got a chair and threw it across my head. I cried out in pain as I was thrown back to the ground, the members now going to try and help the now fallen AMW take on Daniels and Styles, who had just been joined by Ray and Devon, as well as Terry who was pounding the hell out of Raven. 

I closed my eyes, trying to force back the pain as I felt blood fall onto my lips. This wasn't the way I wanted to return.

"McMahon, we'll be there in a minute." Daniels's voice shouted at me.

I opened my eyes and tried to lift some of my body up, looking at the battle in the room. AMW, Jarrett, D'Amore, Young and Raven were all down. Only Williams, A1 and Roode stayed standing. But with them being less in number, the three quickly shot out of the room, not wanting to get beat down like their co-workers. Once they had left and everyone was still down, Daniels rushed over to me just as I was crashing back down to the ground.

"You okay?" he rolled me over to look at my cut.

"Just great." I said sarcastically.

I saw Daniels smirk before trying to wipe some of the blood off my face with his sleeve. I cringed at the touch, but let him continue. He finally stopped, letting me open my eyes, some of the pain gone.

"Knew you shouldn't have come back yet." He muttered.

"Too bad, would have happened either way." I stated, lifting myself up slowly, leaning against my resting elbows.

"True." Daniels stated before lifting his hand to my forehead.

He began tracing my gash with a finger, causing pain to shoot forward. I just bit my lip, not wanting to cry out. Daniels looked back down at my eyes, keeping them locked.

* * *

POV OFF

* * *

As the three last members of team Canada finally left, leaving the rest lying in the room, Devon tried to make his way over to his friend. Ray stopped him and Terry though. 

"Look." He nodded towards Daniels who was wiping blood off her face.

The three, as well as Styles who just stood there awkwardly, watched the man and woman in front of them.

* * *

POV ON

* * *

"Next time, don't go anywhere alone. You know what those guys are like." Daniels told me, his finger still on my forehead, just above where my gash was. 

"I'll try to remember that next time. But you know if you weren't so rude earlier and we took some time to talk about tonight, I wouldn't have come here and be betrayed by Raven." I retorted.

Oddly enough, the weirdest thing happened. A small smile appeared on his lips as a little laugh came from him.

"Fine, blame me McMahon." He looked at me.

"Fine, I will." I smiled slightly, but then stopped when there was a sweep of pain in my head. "Ow…"

The small smile disappeared off Daniels face as his serious expression once again.

"Maybe we should take you to the hospital." He suggested.

I shook my head slowly before stopping because of the pain.

"No." I said. "I came here to help you win against that bastard, and I damn well will."

"You sure?" Daniels asked, concerned.

I nodded. Daniels sighed but nodded as well. "I'll at least take you to the trainers, get you cleaned up alright?"

"Fine." I gave in.

* * *

POV OFF

* * *

"Look at that." Ray smiled slightly. "I think he's starting to gain a heart." 

Meanwhile, AJ looked on at the two, wishing just the slightest that it was he where Daniels was kneeling.

* * *

**A/N: this is by far the longest chapter. and probably one of the most important ones yet. it holds a ton of information. Daniels is worried about her well being, Raven just stabbed her in the back, AJ wants her back, Christian has made an appearance. wow. **

**so what do u think?**


	16. Chapter Fifteen

**Chapter Fifteen:**

"Will she be alright enough for tonight?" Daniels asked as the head trainer finished stitching up my gash.

"As long as she doesn't take in too much action." The trainer told him, putting a bandage where my newly stitched up gash was.

"Like not coming out tonight." Daniels said pointedly towards me.

I shot him a glare as I sat up and hopped off the doctor's bed. "Not a chance Daniels."

Daniels rolled his eyes. "I can't argue you on this can I?"

"Nope." I stated before walking out of the trainers room.

"Hey, what did I say about walking by yourself." Daniels shouted from behind, rushing up to catch up to me.

I stopped and turned to him. "Daniels, stop."

Daniels, for once actually listening to me, stopped walking and looked down at me.

"What?" he asked, a hint of impatience.

"Why did you help me back there? Why did you seem so concerned? You hate me so why?" I asked what had been on my mind since I saw him knock the door open.

Daniels shoved his hands into his black pants pockets and looked me straight in the eye. "I don't know."

"I don't know isn't an answer." I stated.

Daniels glared. "Oh stop making things more complicated then they already are. Lets just go to the locker room and talk about tonight alright."

"Fine." I replied in a huff, annoyed by his tone.

He rolled his eyes before beginning to walk.

* * *

"Daniels! Stop being a fucking bastard!" I screamed at him.

"Well why don't you stop being an insignificant spec of dirt that no one wants around!" he yelled back.

I stepped back, shocked, my mouth hanging open slightly.

"Look, I didn't mean that…" he said, starting to regret what he said.

Tears formed in my eyes. "fine, I'll just go do what everyone wants. I'll quit."

I turned and started to leave the room when Daniels grabbed my arm and reeled me around.

"Don't do that." He told me angrily.

"Why not?" I asked, just as angry, tears pouring down my face. "No one wants me here, what's for me here anyways? I can go back crawling to my dad and probably have a ten times better future. So why stay here?"

Daniels' face softened as he lifted a hand up and brushed away my tears with his thumb.

"You have friends here." He insisted.

"I have more friends in the WWE." I retorted.

"What about Jarrett, you can't just leave. That would be giving in to him." Daniels tried to reason.

"Why are you so keen on making me stay?" I asked, trying to get my arm out of his hold.

Daniels opened his mouth to say something before Jeff ran into the room.

"You have to come see this." Jeff told us.

"What?" I asked.

"Just come." He said, rushing back off in the direction he came.

Daniels and I looked at each other before following Jeff. As we came to where he and a group of people were standing, in front of a public monitor, showing the beginning of the PPV, we saw what Jeff wanted us to see. On the screen was what had occurred earlier in Raven's locker room. My eyes widened. When was a camera in there? Or did I just not see one? My face paled either way.

"I can't believe him." Jeff muttered. "Why would Raven do that?"

"You're guess is as good as mine." I stated, turning away, not able to watch anymore, not wanting to remember it. "But this is beyond personal. You better damn well win tonight Daniels. You better damn well win."

* * *

POV OFF

* * *

_Where is she already_ Daniels thought, dodging an attack from Storm. The last match of the night finally came, and 15 minutes into it, Storm and Harris were already interfering after the ref was knocked out. Daniels tried to hold them off, but he was getting tried more then usual, trying to dodge attacks from all angles. He needed his manager, but he had no clue what she was doing. She was supposed to be out here 5 minutes ago. And he sure needed her. But where she was and why she wasn't out somewhat had the Fallen Angel slightly concerned, concerned that someone like Raven or Team Canada got a hold of her. But he tried not to think of it. he wasn't going to let her wreck his only chance at being the man on top, finally.

_Come on already McMahon. I need you now. Come on!_

As if a miracle happened, music hit the arena, a smile now appearing on Daniels' face.

_Finally_

* * *

POV ON

* * *

"Sorry I'm late, had something I had to do." I told him before hitting Storm over the head with the chair I had brought with me.

"Next time be on time." He said through gritted teeth.

I rolled my eyes. "Just hurry up and pin Jarrett, I've got these two."

Daniels nodded before he slipped into the ring. I meanwhile hit Harris, who was starting to get up from when Daniels had previously knocked him down. Once I had the two down for now, I turned to where the ref was counting. I crossed my fingers, hoping he would get to three. But my hopes were shot as Jarrett lifted up his arm, a new momentum in him. I closed my eyes, biting my lips. Daniels needed to win this, god let him win it.

It was then that I noticed Storm was starting to get up. I quickly swung the chair at him, knocking him back down. But as my back was turned, I never saw Jarrett get the upper hand and got Daniels down flat on the mat for a pin.

"And still the NWA World Heavyweight Champion, Jeff Jarrett!"

"No!" I exclaimed, whipping around, watching Jarrett clutching onto his title in the middle of the ring above Daniels. "Fuck!"

I kept a firm hold onto the chair as I slipped into the ring, facing the now celebrating Jarrett.

"What do you want? Didn't we teach you enough earlier?" Jarrett smirked.

I glared at him before swinging the chair, connecting it with his blonde head. I smirked as his body fell limply to the mat.

"That's a little thing called payback."

* * *

"Come on Daniels, it's alright, so you lost, it's not such a big deal." I reasoned with him as he got his head checked out after the match.

"Not a big deal. I lost my match against one man, while you won against three. That's just pathetic." He said angrily.

I rolled my eyes. The old Daniels was definitely back. "Look, to be fair, I had like five people help me in that match while you only had me for like the last five minutes or so."

"Still. I should have won. I'm alright!" Daniels shouted at the trainer before getting up and stomping out of the room.

I shot the trainer an apologetic smile before following him.

"Well maybe Jarrett was right awhile ago. Maybe you should just go back to the X-Division. That's one belt you know you can win back." I insisted.

Daniels turned around suddenly. "So you didn't think I could win the heavyweight title either huh?"

"Its not that. You could win it, you can, but not while that bastard is the champ. If anyone else was you would have won, but with Jarrett being the champ, not many people are going to be able to beat him." I said truthfully.

Daniels looked away, a shed of truth in what I said.

"What am I supposed to do now?"

"Why are you asking me?" I asked confused.

"You're my manager for god sakes, you're supposed to know." He glared at me before turning around.

"Alright, then go back to the x-division, challenge AJ and win your real title back. The one that really does belong on your shoulder."

Daniels looked at me for a moment before nodding.

"Speaking of Styles, hear the guy out. He's sorry for what he did." He told me.

I looked at him, taken back.

"You can not believe me, but it's true. He helped you earlier because he regretted choosing Petey over you. He said you were a better friend than Petey ever was. So hear the guy out and don't be too hard on him. Even though I hate him, you shouldn't."

* * *

**A/N: so Daniels lost, kind of a shame. and whats this, Tess is losing hope and Daniels is trying to keep her to stay. i swear if i don't hook those two up in the end i'll be getting some mad flames lol. gotta love the teasing...or is it teasing...u never know.**


	17. Chapter Sixteen

**Chapter Sixteen:**

"Oomph." I gulped out as I fell onto my ass.

"You should watch we're you're going." Daniels' voice came from above me.

I rolled my eyes and sighed that of all people, I had to bump into him the day I decided to skip training and hang out at the mall by myself, a whole new credit card courtesy of an early Christmas present to myself.

"Oh and you should also try not to go to one of the more popular places in this city when you decide to skip training." He told me with a snide.

Again I rolled my eyes but mentally hit myself for doing just that. I used to be so good at skipping stuff and getting away with it. I must be slipping as I'm getting older.

"Well I never thought you even knew what a mall was." I returned with a smug look.

Daniels rolled his eyes. "Lame."

I turned my smugness into a glare.

"What, aren't you even going to help me up, I mean with you being the one who knocked me down and all." I looked up at him, a plan arising in my head.

Daniels glared down at me before putting a hand down towards me. I smirked slightly before grabbing his hand. Only except for maneuvering myself up to my feet, I pulled at him hand, trying to yank him down. The plan was of course for him to fall beside me, getting him back for making me fall. I successfully made him fall, just didn't think about that he would probably fall on me. Thankfully Daniels had a feeling I would have pulled a stunt like that and didn't fall exactly on me. Instead his hands we on the ground, either side of my head, his right knee and shin was just hovering over my abdomen, with that foot's toes touching between my legs. His other leg had swiftly come down to kneel at my side.

I looked up at Daniels impressed, and was about to say something when Daniels shot me one of the nastiest glares I've ever seen from the man.

"So I'm guessing you're not very amused with me right now huh?" I said nervously.

"You've got that right. I've had just about enough of you McMahon. Now you either get your act together and show up for training tomorrow, or you'll really wish you never come to TNA." Daniels told me dangerously. "Got it?"

I fought the urge to say something smart, but decided this anger was all I should take at the present moment. So I simply nodded before Daniels quickly stood up and begin to walk away. I sat up and watched him walk off.

"Well you could have at least helped me up."

* * *

"Should I go in or not?" I asked myself, standing before the entrance to the local gym that Daniels and I always trained at. 

I debated with myself, not entirely wanting to deal with the anger Daniels has. But then again, it would only get worse if I skip another day. I kicked the walkway with my running shoe clad foot before groaning, knowing I had to go in there.

"Guess I have to go in." I muttered to myself, yet not moving towards the doors.

"Wow, look boys, our favourite McMahon is talking to herself. Who knew we were dealing with an insane one." The chilled voice of Jeff Jarrett came from behind me, as well as the evil laughs of Storm and Harris.

I groaned before turning around to face my three nemeses.

"Well if it isn't…. you know what, I'm way too tired to throw insults back and forth. So if you wanna kick the living crap out of me, just go ahead." I sighed.

Jarrett laughed. "She's giving in already. This was way to easy. Oh but sorry to burst your bubble McMahon." He stepped closer until he was only about three inches away from me. "We're just here to watch the wonderful workout that's ahead of you. Or so we hear."

I rolled my eyes before whipping around and stalked into the almost empty gym. Since I had already put on my training clothes, which consisted of black Capri's and a black wife beater, I immediately dropped my bag down next to Daniels' and waited for him to be done his rear lat-pull downs.

"I see you came today." He said as he continued.

"Just be happy Jarrett and his two favourite lackeys were right behind me outside, wanting to watch me train, so it was sort of hard to just skip out." I replied snidely.

I watched as Daniels stopped the pull downs before looking behind him, where Jarrett and AMW were seated about mid way through the gym on benches, just watching us and laughing. Daniels then got up and grabbed the bottle of water that was on the bench beside me where I sat.

"Get up. Might as well give those three a show they want." Daniels smirked down at me.

My face paled as I slowly got up, dreading the worse.

* * *

Three hours later and I was kneeling beside the toilet bathroom in the women's locker room at the gym, puking what I thought to be my actual immune system. Meanwhile, I made a mental note to either kill Daniels myself, or get all my buddies to do so. For the past three hours, Daniels had me doing everything practically available to us in that gym, and usually made me do it twice. After half way into the training I started to feel sick from the intensity, but of course Daniels never listening to me, he kept me going. And of course, through it all, Jarrett, Storm, and Harris laughed, pointed and ridiculed me all throughout. Yes, I was definitely going to kill Daniels after putting me through that hell. 

"I never said we were done." Daniels' voice shot through the door of the bathroom.

"For one, you're not supposed to be in the women's locker room, and two, fuck the hell off before I call someone to come kill you." I shot at him angrily before coughing out some more puke.

Daniels laughed. "Who are you going to call, Hardy?"

"How about my brother in law, you know, that huge guy, the one that goes by the name of Triple H. I'm sure he'd love to come kill you for me." I snapped.

"Uh huh, right, when they all hate you." Daniels said. "Just hurry up so we can continue."

I glared at the door as I stood up, arm around my mid-section. I washed my face off at the counter before throwing the door open.

"Look Daniels, I'm tired of you pushing me around." I started walking at him, causing him to walk backwards. "Telling me what to do, and working me out until I puke…"

Daniels eventually stopped me.

"I'm only making you do what you didn't do yesterday." Now walking at me, making me walk back until my back hit the rough wall.

I gulped a bit, still not feeling one hundred percent.

"So get out there, we still have another hour of training left." Daniels looked at me, serious expression on his face.

My eyes widened. "You've got to be kidding me. Are you trying to kill me?"

"No." Daniels smirked. "That's Jarrett's job."

I glared at him; about to throw him a comment before the door to the locker room was crashed open.

"What the hell are you three doing here? What is it with people and not knowing that they aren't girls? I mean I could see why Storm and Harris are confused, with the hair and all, but come on Jarrett." I snapped as I saw the three.

"We were just waiting patiently out there for some more great entertainment, and when you didn't come back we wanted to come in here and…. well…. seeing as you're not up for anymore, we have to kind of create our own." Jarrett smirked evilly as they closed the door.

"Joy." I groaned.

"You've had your fun now, so just go Jarrett." Daniels shot at him, turning around to face him, blocking me somewhat from them.

Jarrett shook his head. "See I don't see where you get off telling me what to do. We were just going to kick the hell out of her, now we're going to kick the living hell out of you too Daniels."

"Nice going." I muttered from behind.

"Oh shut up for once McMahon." Daniels turned around and shot at me.

My eyes widened as Storm came up from behind.

"Daniels, watch…out" I tried to say before Storm hit him over the head with his trusty bear bottle.

I watched as Daniels went to the floor. I looked at the three laughing there, just watching us and mocking. I glared at them before kneeling down, putting my hadn on Daniels shoulder as he sat up and felt the back of his head.

"Great now you're bleeding. Nice going." I said meekly.

"Watch it." he tried to warn before Harris smashed his own beer bottle over the side of my head.

I fell to my side, my gash, yet again, opening up, unleashing all its built up blood.

"See you later you two." Jarrett laughed before I heard the three leave, closing the door on their way out.

"You okay?" Daniels asked, crawling over to me.

Tears were formed in my eyes as I tried to stop the bleeding with my hands as I sat up.

"Here, stop." Daniels took my hands away, looking at the gash. "This cut is getting open way to much."

I laughed slightly. "Tell me about it."

"Wait here, I'll be right back." Daniels told me before getting up slowly, hand at the back of his head, and walked into the bathroom.

Less than a minute later, he came back into the room holding some toilet paper. He knelt on his knees before me and applied pressure onto the gash with the toilet paper. I winced and tried to get away, pain cursing from the pressure.

"Whoa, stop." He grabbed the back of my head and kept me still.

"Ow." I cringed.

"Just hold still, the pain will pass." He told me softly.

"Ow, ow, ow." I continued to wince.

Daniels chuckled slightly.

"You shouldn't laugh." I shot at him.

This made him laugh a bit harder.

"What about you?" I asked suddenly.

"I'm fine." He assured. "I've had a lot worse."

I nodded, though not al that sure.

"How are you feeling from the training?" Daniels asked me, still applying pressure to my gash.

I glared slightly. "Like I still want to kill you."

"You know I was only trying to push you, get you out of your limits so you can get better." He insisted.

"That and you wanted payback for me skipping off yesterday." I snapped.

"That too." He smiled slightly.

I rolled my eyes before closing them, feeling a bit woozy.

"Whoa, hey there, stay awake." Daniels tapped the other side of my head with a finger.

I scrunched up my node and proceeded to keep my eyes closed, keeping the wooziness from overcoming me.

"McMahon, stay with me here. I'm sure you don't want to go to the hospital again." Daniels told me.

I groaned, knowing he was right. I opened my eyes and glared at him, having the odd sensation of wanting to fall asleep.

"Ugh, so tired." I mumbled.

"You can't sleep McMahon." Daniels looked at me deeply. "Come on, stay awake. McMahon?"

* * *

Daniels' POV

* * *

Fuck no. I watched as she started to slump backwards. I quickly wrapped an arm around her waist, keeping her steady. I then took the toilet paper away and noticing the gash was still bleeding heavily. I suppose this is what you get for getting hit across there more than on a few accounts. 

"Come on McMahon. Wake up. Come on, please wake up." I tried to get her to open her eyes.

I sighed, knowing it was no use. But I really didn't want to go to the hospital over this. So I decided on just taking her back to her apartment.

* * *

Regular POV

* * *

I woke up somewhat, my eyes halfway open, but my mind still mostly closed to any thoughts. I looked around and noticed I was curled up in the passenger seat in a car. I looked beside me at the drivers seat as I felt the car moving and I saw Daniels there, watching the road intently. He then suddenly looked over at me, sighing when he was I was awake. 

"Good you're awake." He sighed in relief.

"Barely." I aid quietly. "Where are we going?"

"You're apartment." He told me.

"Why?" I asked.

"We both don't need the hospital yet again." He stated simply.

He had a point.

"Thanks." I said groggily as I tried to move in the seat so I was facing forward.

"For what?" he asked, turning onto the street my apartment was on.

"Ugh, don't make it harder then it already is Daniels. You know what for." I said, touching my head before wincing.

Daniels smirked slightly before parking before my apartment. He then proceeded to get out of the car and came around to my side, opening the door. I unbuckled the seat belt around me and started to get out, pushing away his hand that tried to help me.

"I can go up by myself." I shot at him when he tried to walk me towards the door.

"Fine whatever you say." He let me go and walked back to the car, before he leant against it and just watched me. Abut half way to the entrance of the lobby for my apartment, I staggered due to the loss of blood and eventually turned around.

"Oh stop being a guy and just help me already." I glared at him.

Daniels laughed before coming up and placing an arm around my waist to keep me steady as we walked.

"Key?" Daniels asked, nodding towards the lock on the door.

I fished my hand into my front pocket and brought out the gold shiny key and twisted it into the lock. Once the door was open, I flashed the key away and entered into the lobby with Daniels. We then made our way over to the two elevators, choosing the one on the right and entered. I clicked onto the number 5 and the contraption started up. Finally, the doors opened and my floor came into view. Knowing the floor like the back of my hand, I expertly lead Daniels to the second door on the right and knocking.

"Tess!" Jay exclaimed as he opened it and saw the state I was in before looking at Daniels and glaring at him. "What did you do."

"He didn't do anything Jay. It was Jarrett and them." I explained as Daniels helped me in and helped me to sit

"Bastards. God TM, look at your head. Damn, let me go get the first aid." Jay rushed off towards the bathroom.

"You okay?" Daniels asked, sitting on the coffee table in front of me, as I got comfortable.

"No but hey, I'm used to it." I said with a bit of amusement. "What about you?"

"I said I was fine earlier. Yours is worse considering that gash that's been there for over two months now, almost three." He stated, slightly tracing the skin just above the gash with a fingertip.

"Alright, I got the stuff…" Jay walked back into the room "which means you can go now."

Daniels looked up at Jay before standing up.

"You don't have to go." I said, startling myself

Daniels looked at me, confused but sat back down anyways. I watched as Jay walked around the couch, still glaring at Daniels, and sat beside me. He took a few bandages and a wet cloth and put it on the table beside Daniels before trying to look at my gash.

"Ow!" I exclaimed, moving away from him.

"Hey, it'll hurt less if you don't move." Jay told me sympathetically.

"Well it wouldn't hurt at all if you didn't do it like that." Daniels criticized the way Jay was trying to clean my forehead up.

Jay threw the cloth at him. "Fine, then why don't you show us how to do it."

Daniels raised an eyebrow before nodded with a smirk. He took the wet cloth in hand and slipped forward so he was on the edge of the table. He then motioned for me to sit closer so he could have a better reach. I groaned at moving but did so without any vocal complaints. Daniels then grabbed the back of my head softly and started to softly and carefully dab up the blood from my wound. I winced slightly, but wasn't in any tremendous pain. I was actually shocked that he could be so…careful. Eventually, after a bit of pain, Daniels finished by carefully placing a bandage over the gash, slightly stopping the bleeding.

"Thanks." I said afterwards, Just realizing that Jay had left the couch and was now in the kitchen.

Daniels nodded, putting the cloth back on the table.

"I better go. Don't bother coming to the gym for a few days, heal that head up of yours." He told me.

I nodded. "Thanks again."

He smiled slightly before walking to the door.

* * *

**A/N: wow is this guy ever confusing. first Daniels hates her, and then he's nice to her. then he tries to kill her with training, and then he is all worried and concerned about her. this guy is somewhat annoying, but such a guy huh?**

**so do you all still think it might be Daniels?**


	18. Chapter Seventeen

**Chapter Seventeen:**

"I thought I told you not to come to the gym for a few days." Daniels told me with a bit of annoyance at seeing me doing a few bench crunches the next day.

I stopped and sat up fully to look at him, bandage still on my forehead. I shrugged and stood up.

"Decided I might as well come as I have nothing better to do." I stated, grabbing a sip of water from my water bottle.

"How about heeling your forehead?" he asked, putting his bag on the bench that I had now sat down on.

I waved his comment off. "Naw, who needs to do that."

Daniels glared down at me. "You."

I chuckled. "Didn't know you cared so much."

"I don't." he continued to glare.

"Aww, just face it Daniels, you do have a heart." I smirked.

Daniels knelt down to my level, narrowed eyes and all.

"Look McMahon, go home and rest up. You have two weeks off before tapings, and you need all the time to heel yourself from the pay per view again." He insisted.

I rolled my eyes before looking past him. My face paled and blue eyes widened as I saw Raven enter the gym, scowl on his lips as his eyes darted to Daniels and I.

"What?" he asked, noticing the expression on my face.

"Raven." I pointed.

Daniels immediately stood up, sheltering me from view.

"What the hell do you want Raven." Daniels asked forcefully as Raven approached us.

"Her." Raven glared at Daniels.

"Like I would actually let you touch her." He took a step towards Raven.

"I just want to talk to her you dolt." Raven rolled his eyes.

Daniels narrowed his already narrow eyes. "So you can what, hurt her even more."

Raven glared at him before sliding to the right, my figure now in his view.

"I have to talk to you." he persisted.

I bit my lip. His dark eyes actually held sincerity. But this was also the man who betrayed my trust and sold me out to Jarrett and them. I couldn't trust him to just talk could I?

"She doesn't want to talk to you." Daniels shoved him slightly.

"I'm not going to hurt her Daniels." Raven shoved him back. "But I'm sure she wants to know why I did what I did."

I stood up then. Raven knew that would get me interested. More than anything I wanted to know why I was betrayed. Maybe this was the only way to find out?

"Daniels." I told him, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Back off."

"McMahon." Daniels turned to me. "You can't just believe he just wants to talk."

"I don't know what to believe, which is why if he wants to talk to me then you're going to be on the listening end as well." I raised an eyebrow at him before turning the Raven. "I'm listening."

Raven didn't look sure if he wanted Daniels there. He eyed him hesitantly before sighing and nodding.

"I never expected to hurt you." Raven started. "But you don't know how much that title meant to me."

"So why would you stab me in the back and help the person who stole it from you?" I asked in annoyance.

Raven gave me one of his pointed looks to be quiet or he wont talk at all. So I bit my lip, letting him continue.

"He came to me a week or so after Bound For Glory. He told me that he would give me a fair one on one match for the title at Turning Point. No interference or anything. But I would have to help them get to you. I knew it was a price to pay for my title back. You don't know how much I needed that title. Through every wrestling promotion I've been in, I've always been the low card guy, never the big champ. I was in TNA. I was the one who had the gold everyone wanted. But then it was stolen from me. My whole future was destroyed. So when the opportunity came, my greed, need, for that title came back full force and I was willing to stab you in the back for it. But it just came out yesterday that it wouldn't be me facing him at Turning Point. No it'll be him versus Terry. When I cornered him about it, he said he was never going to give me the title shot. He just wanted you. He used me. After he told me that, I realized what I had done. Realized I was a nitwit and a fool for what I did to you. Almost thought about killing myself last night out of stupidity before having the thought of trying to get you back."

I listened as he talked. Usually when someone would tell you why they stabbed you in the back, you didn't believe them, or didn't want to. But I couldn't help myself. I knew he was telling the truth. If I knew anything about Raven, it was that he wasn't a liar. He was above lying. Not to mention his eyes actually held emotion in them for the first time in his life. No he meant what he had just said.

"I realized that you were probably one of the best things that had ever happened to me. You befriended me when you came to TNA, and got me friends with Terry, Jeff and them. And I, like a bastard, flushed it all away. I know what its like to lose the people you care about now. And I'm…s…I'm sorry for what I did." Raven told me, his dark eyes looking into my blue eyes that held a fresh batch of tears.

When he was finished I lunged myself at him. Though not in attack, but in embrace. My arms were wrapped around his neck tightly, tears flowing down my eyes as his arms wrapped unsurely around my waist. Daniels just stood there, shocked at what was happening before him.

"I'm sorry." Raven whispered into my ear, as we stayed connected.

"I know." I whispered back.

"Ah, hate to break the moment, but if you are going to train today, we should probably start soon." Daniels broke the silence awkwardly.

Raven and I slowly broke apart as I turned towards Daniels. I winced as pain ruptured into my head at the sudden rush to the head.

"Actually, maybe I should take your advice and just rest up." I held my forehead.

Daniels rolled his eyes before head over to start his workout.

* * *

"Tess!" a voice called from behind Raven and I.

After the whole gym scene, Raven and I decided to just walk around and talk. We were pretty much okay now, maybe even better than we were before. Which felt nice. And now, I was being called from behind by the first person that stabbed me in the back. But I already knew what he wanted. He was going to say he was sorry and that he regretted everything, just like Daniels said. And I already knew what I was going to do. So I stopped Raven and turned, watching as AJ ran and caught up to us. Once he reached us, he opened his mouth to say something. But I shook my head and walked up to him before hugging him. AJ stood there, shocked I suppose.

"Ah, why are you hugging me, I didn't even get a chance to say anything." He asked, though wrapping his arms around me all the same.

I laughed before looking up at him. "Daniels told me you were sorry and that you regretted it all. Decided that since one person that hurt me got me to forgive them that I might as well forgive the other one to get my life back in order."

AJ looked past me and towards Raven before smiling down at me. "So your life all good now?"

"Almost. Actually I kinda need a favour to make our friendship even better."

"What?" AJ asked.

"Give Daniels a title shot at Turning Point."

* * *

**A/N: so all is good in Tess' life again. Raven and AJ are now back in her life, and Daniels is acting nice towards her again...makes you wonder whats going to happen next from Jarrett huh? havent seen him lately. just something to keep in mind.**


	19. Chapter Eighteen

**Chapter Eighteen:**

"You what!" Daniels seethed.

I cringed at his tone. "Hey don't yell at the hurt manager."

"I don't fucking care! You just asked a favour from golden boy and got me a title match? What the hell!"

"I don't get what your problem is." I glared at him. "I got you the title match you wanted so much in the past few months."

"I didn't want it as a favour to get you back as a friend. I never got to earn it." he shouted at me with clenched fists.

I was about to shout back at him but stopped. I just stood there in the empty gym, early into the morning. It was actually 2 am. It was kind of useful to have your regular gym one that stays open 24/7. I had actually never been here this early, or late, before. But I wanted to tell Daniels about the match at Turning Point so I called him and told him to meet me here later. It had been about an hour ago that he had gotten here and I finally got around to telling him. I was slightly angry that he was reacting like this. But I decided for once that I didn't want to have a yelling match yet again. So I just decided to be nice.

"But you already earned it Daniels." I told him softly. "Before I came into the picture you would have gotten your rematch for the title. So in reality, this is your rematch. You already earned it. Its just my fault that it took so long."

Daniels looked at me for a moment before sighing and unclenching his fists. He sat back down on the bench beside me and leant back against the wall.

"Sorry." He muttered.

"What was that?" I smirked.

Daniels turned his head and glared at me. I chuckled as I leant back next to him.

"How's your head?" he asked after a few minutes of silence.

"Hurts I guess, actually it probably hurts more than it did when I first got it." I lightly touched my bandage.

"Probably because its been opened so many times it never got a chance to heal properly and is starting to get effected. That and the stress and pressure is getting to you and that causes your mental health to be affected." Daniels explained to me.

I nodded. "Which would ultimately explain the dizziness right?"

Daniels sat up and looked at me intently.

"How dizzy are you?" he asked suddenly.

I shrugged. "I don't know why?"

"Stand up." He instructed.

I looked at him oddly before doing so. It wasn't long before I came crashing back down to Daniels on the bench because my head was spinning so fast.

"Okay this isn't good." He immediately turned his body so he was facing me completely.

I continued to look at him like he was crazy and on drugs.

"What are you going on about?" I asked him.

"Dizziness is the first sign to going unconscious as well all know. That and half of its my fault from the training a few days ago when I went to far." He got up.

"So you admit that huh?" I smirked.

He looked at me seriously and I wiped the smirk off my face. Apparently he was pretty serious about this.

"Look Daniels, I'm fine." I insisted, standing up.

But like before, my head began to spin. I tried shaking the feeling off, so as to not let Daniels know about it. But when I tired to move, my legs buckled underneath me and gravity lost its contact with me. Thankfully Daniels caught me in the nick of time before my head could go crashing into the bench. He carefully sat me on the ground, my back leaning against the bench.

"McMahon?" he caught hold of my chin as my eyes drooped close.

"McMahon, come on, don't." he urged me.

"Go away." I said groggily, the urge to sleep came to me again.

"No McMahon. Come on. A hospital isn't something I wanted to happen at 2 in the morning. McMahon come on, please." His voice raised in concern.

* * *

POV OFF

* * *

"Excuse me is there something wrong." The manager on duty at the gym walked over and asked Daniels, who had an arm wrapped around Tess' waist, while his other hand was on her cheek, trying to wake her up.

"We need an ambulance quickly." Daniels ushered.

The man nodded before rushing off for the nearest phone. Daniels meanwhile looked down at the girl, a worried expression on his face. He never thought he would be in a position such as this, worried about the person her used to hate. He didn't even think he hated her. She had oddly enough grown on him. He was used to her being around now. He started to somewhat care for her safety now.

"McMahon, wake up. Please. I need you to wake up." He persisted.

"Tess come on, wake up. Please."

"You said my name." Tess' voice came groggily to him.

Daniels looked down at the flickering eyelids, her bright sparkling eyes now available to see.

"You'd be surprised what one would say to get you to wake up." Daniels covered up for his slip.

"That or you've warmed up to me and you actually don't hate me." She let out a small laugh.

"Don't flatter yourself."

"Don't lie to yourself." She retorted.

Daniels looked down at her. He was actually surprised he had called her by her first name. He never had a reason to, nor had he ever wanted to. It just slipped out.

"Oh come on Daniels, you like me, admit it." she smirked as she closed her eyes for a moment.

"Open them." Daniels ordered quickly.

"Geez, what a party pooper." She pouted, but opening her eyes all the same. "Why are there flashing lights outside?"

Daniels looked towards the door as paramedics and a stretcher came through them, approaching them.

"Had to call." Daniels informed.

Tess scrunched up her nose before wincing in pain.

"What happened?" one of the paramedics asked once they reached them.

"She's had a gash on her head from a month or so ago during a match. It's recently been open three or four days ago, and then opened again the day before yesterday. She fell unconscious and doesn't look to be staying conscience for much time." Daniels explained as the paramedics carefully raised Tess up onto the stretcher and strapped her onto it.

"Alright. Will you be coming to the hospital with us?" the paramedic asked.

Daniels nodded.

"I hate you Daniels." Tess muttered as the stretcher began to move towards outside.

"No you don't" Daniels whispered with a slight smile before following.

* * *

**A/N: awwww, he said her first name. cute. **


	20. Chapter Nineteen

**Chapter Nineteen.**

"I'm…So…Excited…" I jumped up and down in the locker room four weeks later.

Daniels looked over at me like I was crazy. "McMahon, calm yourself down."

"You know I think I liked it better when you called me Tess." I said, continuing to jump on the soles of her feet.

"Will you be quiet if I use your first name?" he asked impatiently.

I nodded in a fast pace. I watched with amusement while Daniels sighed and nodded.

"Fine. Tess, calm down for Christ sakes."

I grinned before stopping and calming down.

"Thank god." He rolled his eyes.

I laughed. "Come on Daniels, its Turning Point, and your match is in like ten minutes or less. Shouldn't you be excited too?"

"You know if I'm being made into calling you by your first name you should have to use my first name too." Daniels stated, putting on his long black cloth jacket with silver pinstripes on.

I bit my lip. "Well what am I supposed to call you, Christopher?"

Daniels looked at me with a glare. "No. Chris would do just fine."

I shrugged. "Fine with me. The name Daniels was starting to get annoying anyways.

Daniels, I mean Chris, gave me an odd look before grabbing his black sunglasses.

"Alright, lets go." He told me.

I nodded before remembering what I was going to bring down to ringside with me.

"Hey have you seen my brass knucks Chris?" I asked, trying out his real name.

"No. Wait, you have brass knucks? Since when?" he returned a question.

"Since a few weeks ago. Oh here we go." I found the bright shinny knucks under an extra shirt in my bag. I quickly snatched them up and placed them under the top part of the black pants I was wearing. "Lets go."

Daniels watched me before rolling his eyes and leading the way out.

"Hey since we're on a first name basis, does that mean we're kind of like friends?" I asked as we walked to the heel ramp, just life we did when I first debuted.

"No, it just means we're on a first name basis." He replied.

I chuckled before realizing we were at the tunnel.

"You remember what we planned?" he asked, turning to me.

I nodded with a smile. "It's all up in here." I pointed to the top of my head.

"So I should trust you forgot by now?" he smirked.

"Ha ha, not funny Chris." I punched him in the arm.

"That was weak." He continued to smirk.

I glared at him before hearing our music. Chris shook his head before ushering me to hurry up the tunnel in front of him.

* * *

POV OFF

* * *

D- "this is definitely a match of the year candidate."

M- "you've got that right Don. These two men have been battling for over 20 minutes, and the momentum just keeps on going back and forth."

D- "it's hard to say whose going to pull out of this as the champion."

M-"that's right. But you've just got to wonder, what does Tess McMahon have up her sleeve. She's been quiet throughout the whole match, which we know isn't her. There's got to be a hidden agenda."

D- "maybe we'll be finding out now."

Down to the ring, AJ had just pulled off the Styles Clash onto Daniels, now going for the pin. Tess and the fans waited anxiously as the ref counted. But to the thankfulness of Tess, Daniels shot his arm up, interrupting the pin at hand. AJ got up, frustrated, and started shouting at the ref, saying it was a three count. Meanwhile, Daniels crawled over to the ringside where Tess was situated.

* * *

POV ON

* * *

I smirked at him as he crawled over. I knew what he wanted. So I swiftly, and carefully hidden, brought out the brass knucks and handed them to Chris quickly. Chris nodded in thanks and held them hidden in his palm. I raced around the ring, ready to distract the ref. It was pretty simple as he was still fighting with Styles. So I climbed up onto the Apron, giving AJ a sly look.

"Styles, go fuck yourself." I shouted at him (in character and all).

AJ looked over at me with a glare, now getting the ref's attention. The ref turned to me and started telling me to go down. I watched behind him while I fought. AJ shook his head and turned towards Chris. At that exact moment, Chris shoved the brass knucks into the forehead of AJ, knocking him down. I immediately jumped down off the apron, so the ref wouldn't be distracted. I watched with a grin as the ref flew down to the mat, going for the pin fall.

"1…..2…..3!" the ref counted.

My eyes widened and I jumped up and down. He won. He actually won. I slid immediately into the ring, and just stood there, watching as Chris took the title the ref handed out to him. He just stayed there on his knees, looking down at the piece of gold metal in his hands. There was a rare grin on his face, as well as a sparkle in his dark eyes. I knew he was happy, and I couldn't have said that about him before. He got what really mattered to him back. Sure it took a bit thanks to me, but he eventually got it back.

It was then that Chris looked up at me. It was a bit shocking to see that face on him. A grinning Christopher Daniels isn't what most people tend to find after a match. But it was today. I grinned back and walked over to him, lending out a hand to help him up. He took it gracefully and stood up with pride. I looked over at him before raising his arm in celebration. The crowd loved it. They began cheering for the man who they had started to love from last month. Chris just soaked it up. He couldn't even speak. All he could do was look down at his title, eyes sparkling in happiness.

I eventually noticed that the ref needed us to leave, so the next match could take place. So I laid a hand on Chris' shoulder.

"Chris, we have to get going, the next match is up in a few." I told him.

He looked at me and nodded. It was then that he did one of the most unexpected things ever. He hugged me. And it wasn't one of the awkward little hugs. It was a full out embrace. I was shocked by it before recovering enough to return the embrace.

"You did it." I whispered in his ear.

"Yeah." He returned. "Thanks."

"You could have done it by yourself." I told him as we parted and began to leave the ring.

"Yeah I could have, but you still helped so thanks." He insisted as we walked up the ramp, an arm around my shoulders.

I smiled. It was sort of odd at how two months ago Chris and I hated each other more than anything. And now, well I don't really know what this is. But maybe this was a start of a friendship of sorts. Hey, weirder things have happened.

* * *

**A/N: could this be the beginning of a friendship, or prehaps more? what do you think? do you really want, or think Daniels, now known as just Chris, is the one for tess? let me know.**


	21. Chapter Twenty

**Chapter Twenty:**

* * *

POV OFF

* * *

D- "now coming to ring, to start the show off is none other than our new X Division Champion and Tess McMahon."

Tess and Chris walked proudly down the ramp, Title over the champ's shoulder, while his other arm was around Tess. The two both held large smirks as the crowd cheered for their new favourite champion and his manager. As the two reached the ring, Tess slid in before standing up and sitting on the middle rope, keeping it down for Chris to dodge through. Chris shot Tess a look of thanks as he grabbed a microphone and the two stood in the middle of the ring, taking in the chants. After a moment of taking it all in, Chris eventually handed the microphone off to Tess, keeping an arm firmly around her waist. Tess took it with a smile and slowly brought it to her smiling lips.

"Ladies and gentle…" she paused for a moment. "Please give a standing ovation for, the first time in Three Months standing in the Impact Zone, Christopher Daniels!"

The crowd went nuts, cheering and chanting like no other. Chris grinned, the second time for viewers of TNA Impact, and took the mic back from Tess.

"Thank you for that…welcoming introduction." Chris smiled down at Tess, who smiled back up at him. "Now, down to business. Last night, I beat TNA's golden boy, AJ Styles, and got back my title. Now I know some of the boys in the back don't like it, most importantly the phenomenal one himself. But I never gave a damn about him. This title is mine. No one else's. I will always be the X-Division Champ. I will always be MR. TNA."

Once again, the cheers went rocketing, banging protruding from the stands. From an audience member point of view, this was possibly the happiest they had ever seen the Fallen Angel Christopher Daniels. But to alls misery, the hateful Canadian Anthem came blaring unwanted through the arena.

* * *

POV ON

* * *

"What the…?" I muttered, looking towards the Heel tunnel in confusion.

This definitely wasn't planned, or expected. If anything, I could have seen AJ come down here, declaring a rematch. But in his place were all members of Team Canada with large scowls on their faces. Some people must not be having the best day of their lives apparently.

"I've got it covered." Chris muttered back at back, stepping in front of me slightly as Team Canada slid into the ring.

I nodded as we watched D'Amore brought a mic up, ready to talk.

"Congratulations Daniels. A great win, even if you did cheat to get it."

I snorted. Here we were and D'Amore of all people was complaining about cheating. Irony or what?

"Just like you do in every one of their matches then." Chris smirked at D'Amore and the rest of Team Canada.

"We at least have the talent to back it up." D'Amore shot back. "But anyways, you say you're the only X champion? Well think again my friend. You see, we just came from Zbyszko's office. Seems like you wont be x champ for long Daniels."

"What in the hell are you blabbering about now D'Amore?" Chris asked.

D'Amore smirked, as did all members of team Canada before Petey Williams stepped up beside D'Amore, cocky expression placed on his face.

"Petey here is your new opponent at Final Resolution." D'Amore smirked.

My jaw dropped open. I would have thought TNA Management would have a rematch against AJ.

"I'll beat the crap out of him none the less." Chris insisted confidently through gritted teeth.

D'Amore laughed. "Apparently this guy took too many hits to the head. In other words, you're going to have to go through all of us. And I don't think Jarrett is passed that whore of yours beating him."

My fists clenched as D'Amore mentioned me. I had the strongest urge to take one of my fists and connect into his jaw. But as I stepped up to attack the bastard, Chris stopped me with an arm, keeping me back. D'Amore meanwhile laughed and smirked at me with his evil beady eyes.

"Might want to keep that girl of yours in check Daniels. You never know when she's going to snap. But then again, she's a no good whore who can't even win a match by herself."

It wasn't me who snapped this time. Daniels threw a hard punch at D'Amore, knocking him back and causing A1 and Bobby Roode to straighten him out. Young and Williams meanwhile stepped forward, ready to pounce on Daniels for hitting their coach and mentor. But before they could do anything, Jarrett's music rang through the arena, causing me to turn around to the other ramp, where I suspected they would be coming from. I was right as I saw my most hated enemy standing up on the ramp with AMW, cocky smirks placed on their disturbing faces. I looked back at Daniels, but saw that he was staring down Williams. I had a strong feeling this wouldn't end nicely.

I watched Jarrett and his lackeys as they just stood there. None of the three looked to have any motive to walk towards the ring, nor did any of them have a mic. After a moment of wondering why they were out here, I finally pieced it together. They were a distraction. I turned around quickly before just catching a blurry hockey stick shoot right at Daniels head, knocking him off his feet. My face paled as A1 and Bobby Roode started kicking him around, not giving him a chance to get up. Meanwhile I started stepping back away from Young and Williams who were walking towards me slowly with large smirks on their evil bound faces. I soon found my back hitting the turnbuckle that was straight behind me. My eyes widened, as I feared what was about to happen.

Young immediately lunged at me, grabbing me around the arms, keeping a strong grip on me. I winced at the impact before struggling to get free. I tried to kick him, but he just laced a leg around one of mine and stopped me abruptly. My breathing fell heavily as Williams walked up so he was only about an inch or two away from my face. As I was on the short side, his 5'7" frame looked down on me in a demeaning way.

Williams shot me a disturbing smile before grabbing the back on my head along with my hair and brought me head back, causing me to wince in slight pain.

"Scared McMahon?" Petey asked roughly.

I gritted my teeth, not permitting myself to speak.

Petey just laughed, moving hi body closer to mine so we were actually touching. He then brought a hand up to trace my jaw and then down my neck. Shivers ran up my spine at the cold touch.

"You like that don't you?" he laughed.

I began to start struggling again, not liking where this was going at all. Meanwhile I could hear Young laugh along with the rest of Team Canada. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Chris lying there motionless on the mat, blood flowing steadily from the corner of his forehead. I began to get worried. My best bet right now was to hope to god one of my friends would come down and help. But at the way Williams was starting to look at me, the hope of this was becoming less and less active.

"Hurry it up Petey." D'Amore ordered from behind Petey. "Those friends of hers will be coming down here soon. So finish it off."

My blue eyes widened as Petey looked down at me, a dark and sinister look in his eyes. All I could do was wait with struggle as he got a better grip on the back of my head. He then did the most disgusted thing that has ever happened to me in my life. He kissed my lips roughly and with a demeaning pressure. I struggled to push him away or to get away at all. But he just applied the pressure harder as Young did the same to my arms. Thankfully Williams moved away and left me there, waiting for when I could get back stage and could wash my mouth out from his despicable taste. I hoped that was all he had intended to do. By my hope vanished as Williams signaled for Young to let me go. Before I could get away though, Williams toe kicked me and set me up for his devastating move.

But to my overpowering thanks, AJ's music blasted through the sound system. Williams pushed me down onto the mat as he turned and waited for AJ to come. I crawled over to Daniels and tried to wake him up. When I couldn't, I turned my head, watching the scene before me. AJ threw a set of right hands at Williams and Young, knocking them off their feet every time they came back for more. Eventually they decided they had enough and slid out of the ring and staggered up their respectable ramp along with the rest of Team Canada and Jarrett's gang.

"Are you okay?" AJ came kneeling down on the other side of Daniels but looked straight at me.

"Other than wanting to disinfect my mouth a hundred times over, I'm alright. But Chris here doesn't" I stated, looking down at the unconscious figure.

AJ nodded before looking at me shocked. "When did you start calling him Chris?"

I shrugged, keeping my eyes dead on Chris. "Sunday. He used my real name accidentally before that so we just decided to use our real names instead of the usual Daniels, McMahon thing."

AJ nodded, still in a bit of shock.

"Where the hell are the EMT's?" I asked agitated that no one had come down yet.

"Give them time T." AJ assured me.

I nodded but couldn't help but feel a bit guilty as I looked down at the bloody motionless form of the man I was managing. I couldn't help but think if I had never chosen TNA over my own company of WWE, then this never would have happened to Chris. He would be living his normal and regular X-Division days without any hassle from a manager who got the wrong enemies on her first night of work.

AJ must have been a mind reader because he immediately stopped my train of thought.

"Don't blame yourself Tess. This isn't your fault. Its no ones." He told me.

I looked up into his own blue eyes and nodded. He was right I suppose. Even if I hadn't come to TNA, Williams would have wanted a title shot eventually, and when you were against one member of Team Canada, you were ultimately against them all.

"Ugh…. why does it feel like I was just hit by a train?" Chris voice came groggily.

Relief filled my insides as I looked back down at him as he began to wake up and move into a sitting position.

"Probably cause you had A1 and Roode on your ass." I told him, helping him to sit.

"Thanks." He mumbled before looking at AJ. "Why are you here?"

"What, I don't get a thanks. I only helped Tess here." AJ smirked.

Chris looked at me concerned. "What happened?"

I waved it off. "Oh nothing, just typical Williams is all. That and I think I have to wash my mouth out with soap."

Chris shot me a confused look. "Okay then…? So does someone want to help me up already?"

"He's a little grumpy." AJ mused towards me.

"You should see him when you skip out on a training session." I smirked as we dragged Chris up to his feet.

I laughed in amusement when Chris gave me a dirty look before walking slowly to the ropes and sliding out. I rolled my eyes before AJ and I left as well.

* * *

**A/N: k another chappie up. took a bit longer. i pretty much had to write this all between my last two exams. but i have 5 days off till 2nd semester starts so ill have a bunch of chapters made to add.**

**so does everyone still think Daniels? i have to tell you, i wasn't sure who i was actually going to have as the romance until i finished writing this chapter and then i got the idea. but keep telling me what you think should happen. you never know, you might just change my mind.**


	22. Chapter Twenty One

**Chapter Twenty-One:**

"Hey Chris, are you like mad at me or something?" I asked a few days later during one of our training sessions.

Ever since the tapings on Tuesday, Chris had been acting a bit gruff towards everyone. Not that it wasn't all that unusual. But it was sort of odd how he went from really happy to gruff in a few short hours. That as well as he was pulling another grueling workout. It was only an hour and a half into it and I was ready to drop dead.

"No." Chris replied roughly. "Are you not done yet?"

I shot him a confused as well as dirty look.

"Okay seriously, what's up with you?" I asked, standing up with my arms folded.

"Nothing get back to work." He shot me a glare.

"No." I stated simply.

"What?"

"No. What's up with you? Ever since Tuesday you've been acting really odd. Not to mention you've been grueling me like you did awhile back. I already want to drop dead." I snapped.

"Good." He grumbled.

"Excuse me?" now I was really worried.

"Either get back to work or leave." He replied with a growl before stalking off.

I watched as he walked across the gym. This was starting to worry me. I was used to his bitterness by now. But when he was happy one minute and then all gruff the next, it begins to worry me. Nonetheless though, I decided to call it quits, as I was actually pretty tired from today already. So I packed up my stuff and headed off towards the women's change room, Chris' change in personality deeply in mind.

* * *

"Have you guys noticed anything weird with Chris lately?" I asked the gang later that night when we were walking through the Universal City Walk.

"Never noticed." Jeff shrugged. "Why?"

I watched as a family of four walked past us, the two kids pointing at us with amazement. A small smile appeared on my lips before remembering what had happened earlier today.

"Well every since the tapings on Tuesday, he's been acting a bit…"I trailed off.

"Like the usual Daniels?" Terry finished.

I nodded. "Pretty much. But I mean, he was happy one minute, and then the next he was all gruff and annoying."

"Maybe he was just jealous because Petey kissed you." Ray teased with a raised eyebrow.

I scrunched up my face. "That's not funny. I had to wash my mouth out about a million times to get the taste out. And anyways, Chris was unconscious and he wouldn't care."

"Uh huh." Devon nodded, though a touch of sarcasm was in his tone.

"What? He wouldn't" I declared.

"Of course." He smiled.

I frowned before stopping. "Okay what is it? Spit it out."

"Well…" Devon started.

"Have you ever wondered…" Ray continued.

"That maybe he was happy because…" Terry included.

"You two were slightly…what would you call it…" Jeff thought.

"Friends?" AJ concluded.

I looked at the five with a startled expression before turning to the overly quiet Raven.

"So do you think they're all nuts too?" I asked.

"Not entirely." He spoke, his dark eyes catching my light ones.

I groaned. I swear I needed new friends.

"Where's Carrie, I need someone to help me hit all you guys."

"she's with her new boyfriend." AJ stated.

I spun around and looked at him. "Boyfriend? Since when? How come I didn't know? What's his name? Who is he? Is he nice? Is he cute? Come on tell me already!"

"Whoa." AJ held up his hands. "Slow it down a bit. Yes she has a new boyfriend. Since a month or so ago. You were too busy with Mr. Daniels too take notice. His name is Chris I think. And I have no clue for the last two."

I thought for a moment. Who could it be and how come I didn't know. Though I suppose AJ unfortunately had a point. For most of last month, I had a spent lot of my free time training with Chris. Could I have really missed my best friend getting a new guy in her life?

"Chris who?" I asked, wanting to know all the details I could.

AJ shrugged. "No clue. Why don't you call her or something tomorrow."

"Good idea, I'll call her now. Someone give me their cell phone." I demanded.

"Where's yours?" Jeff wanted to know.

"Can't find it." I shrugged. "Hello? Am I talking to myself here? Hurry it up people."

"Geez, she's a demanding one." Ray muttered to Devon.

"I feel sorry for whoever she ends up with." He whispered back.

"I heard that you two!" I glared at them.

The two shot me innocent looks before Terry handed me his cell. I gave him a smile and quickly bounded to the nearest bench and sat down, dialing the number I knew with my eyes closed.

"Come on, pick up Carrie." I mumbled as I listened to the ringing.

"Hello?"

* * *

POV OFF

* * *

"Hey speaking of which, do any of you know who Carrie is dating?" Jeff asked, wondering himself.

Jay looked up. He wanted to tell them so much. But he knew he couldn't, he had promised Carrie that he wouldn't tell any of them. It was just a fluke that he knew. He had caught them in one of the spare locker rooms during a taping awhile back. Carrie made him promise to keep it a secret, as the rest of the gang wouldn't like it. Jay promised, but even he didn't like who it was.

"Jay?" Terry asked. "You know something don't you."

Jay bowed his head.

"You do." He stated. "Who is it?"

"I can't tell you." Jay insisted.

"Come on Jay, we're all friends." Jeff persisted.

"I can't." Jay stated.

* * *

POV ON

* * *

"Hey Carrie, where are ya?" I asked casually.

"Oh, just uh…" Carrie trailed off.

"Just on a date with your new boyfriend?" I accused with amusement.

"How'd you know?" she breathed.

"AJ. So when were you going to tell me?" I asked, this time a touch hurt that my best friend never called to tell me she found herself someone.

"Well I just…. you were always so…into training and all that I didn't want to bug you with something like this." She explained.

"Carrie, I'm never un interested in your love life." I told her.

"I know. Sorry."

"Its all good. It'll be better if you tell me who this mystery man is." I smirked.

"I uh…you won't like It." She sighed.

"I'm sure I won't care. I mean it's not like your going out with Satan." I laughed.

"Just one of his right hand men." I heard her whisper to herself.

"What was that?" I asked confused.

"Nothing." She covered up. "But you really won't like it. And I mean it."

"Oh just tell me Carrie. Remember back a few years ago when I started training in OVW and you were shadowing the execs there for the business course you were taking in university at the time? And you had that huge argument with Randy? And then a few weeks later he and I started secretly dating. I had kept it from you for about a week before John told you about Randy and I. Remember how mad you were that I never told you about us? You said you didn't care if it was the person who drove you mad, as long as I was happy. Remember?" I replayed a memory from long ago.

"Yeah…" she paused. "Okay I'll tell you. But before you completely hate me, remember that he does make me happy."

"Okay, just tell me." I insisted with a grin.

"It's Chris Harris."

* * *

**A/N: whoa...did Carrie just say what i think she did? wow, so Carrie hooked up with Chris Harris. unusual match huh? and how in the world is that working out with her being best friends with tess? bet you all wanna know don't ya? lol**

**And what is with Daniels? did something happen? is he really actually mad at Tess? or maybe could the guys be right, could he be jealous that Petey kissed her even though it was against her will? guess you'll just have to wait and see.**


	23. Chapter Twenty Two

**Chapter twenty-Two:**

"Tess? You still there?" Carrie a few minutes later.

I just sat there, mouth open in shock, eyes widened. I couldn't speak. What she had just said shocked the hell out of me. At first I didn't believe it and thought of it as a joke. But the doubt of it being a joke was clearer than ever.

"I knew I shouldn't have told you." She sighed.

"I…wow…" I spoke, shocked still.

"Look I know it looks and sounds bad. I mean me and one of the guys who hated you and made your life miserable since day one. But he's actually really sweet." She tried to tell me.

"You…and…Harris? Oh my god." I breathed, not able to let the news sink in.

"Maybe I should go and let you digest it all." She suggested.

"I…. wow…"

"Alright I definitely will then. I'll call you later all right? Bye I guess."

Soon the familiar dial tone came to sound through my ear. I just sat there, looking down at the phone. I still couldn't believe it. I don't think I ever would. I mean, Carrie and Harris?

"Tess? You okay?" Jeff asked as he sat down next to me.

I shrugged my shoulders stiffly.

"What happened?" AJ asked, sitting on the other side of me.

"Harris." I spoke.

"What about Harris?" Terry wanted to know, slowly taking his phone from my grasp and kneeling down in front of me.

"Carrie and Harris…"

"What?" Ray and Devon asked at the same time.

"Carrie and Harris." I spoke a bit louder.

"Your serious? No you can't be, I mean…. Carrie and Harris?" AJ asked, shocked.

I nodded.

"You must be joking or something. I mean Carrie would never go for someone like Harris." Jeff insisted.

"She's not joking." Jay spoke up.

I looked up at Jay. "You knew?"

He nodded slowly. "I walked in on them…ah…kissing awhile back. She told me to keep it a secret."

"You've kept a secret like that from us for a month?" I asked.

"Yeah. I had to. Not to mention she knew you would react this way so she wanted to tell you herself, she just needed it to be the right moment." He informed.

I nodded, though still shocked.

"I think I'm gonna call it a night." I stated, standing up.

"It's only nine thirty mckid." Jeff stood up and put an arm around me.

"I ah, need to think about some stuff." I told him.

Jeff nodded. "I'll drive you home then."

"Thanks."

Jeff smiled down at me. "No prob, not like it's out of the way or anything, I live there too."

I smiled slightly. "Well night guys."

"Night." They all chorused.

* * *

"Get your damn head into the game McMahon!" Daniels shouted at me.

A week later and his mood still hadn't left. Not only that but it was back to the good old days of me hating him and him thing me. Though it was still hard to think about him when I was still shocked about Carrie and Harris. Carrie had come over the day after she told me and we talked for a while. She told me she was the happiest she's ever been since she started going out with Harris. I knew that meant a lot to her, as the last relationship she was in was with a certain French Canadian that remains nameless to this date, went horribly wrong. But I still couldn't grasp the whole Harris thing. I mean it was Harris for god sakes!

"McMahon!" he shouted once more. "What the hell is wrong with you today"

I gritted my teeth before standing up in the training ring we were using today.

"What's wrong with me? Excuse me Mr. Moody. You're the one who has a problem." I snapped at him before moving towards the ropes to leave the ring.

Before I could though, Daniels grabbed my lower arm and spun me back around. I looked up at him in rage. He was starting to get on my last nerve. And to think I actually thought we might have a slight friendship on the way. Stupid really.

"Where do you think your going?" he growled.

"I'm leaving. I don't feel like dealing with you right now." I shot back at him, trying to wrench my arm out of his grasp.

Daniels gripped onto my arm harder. "See I had to deal with you for however long it's been since you became my manager. I'm sure you can endear one measly training session.

I winced at the small pain coming now from my arm. "Yeah, really can't though. So let me go Daniels."

Daniels smirked down at me before twisting my arm a touch.

"Ow!" I cringed.

"See pain McMahon is one of the things you have to mask when you're in the ring. If you show when your hurt." He twisted my arm again. "It tells your opponent when and where you're hurt."

I looked at him confused, trying to figure out what was wrong with him.

"Just let me go Daniels." I told him quieter this time.

"And when your opponent knows where the pain is, he'll go after that spot until they know they have the win." Daniels twisted my arm behind my back while turning me so my back was facing him.

I bit my lip as to not let him know how much that was hurting. His nails were digging in my arm, creating marks around the forming bruise.

"Daniels, you're hurting me."

"Good." He said simply.

"What's wrong with you?" I asked quietly.

Daniels remained silent, not answering the question.

"Ow." I whimpered.

"Oh be quiet." He told me angrily.

Tears formed in my eyes. I couldn't believe Daniels was acting like this. I mean was it not weeks ago where he was trying to keep me from going unconscious in this very gym? What happened to him?

"Daniels please." I pleaded, my arm now hurting more than anything.

All Daniels did was untwist my arm, letting me turn back around. I looked up into his dark brown eyes. It spooked me how blank they were. They held absolutely no emotion what so ever.

"Daniels your really hurting me. Please just let me go." I begged.

Daniels looked down at me, looking into my eyes before towards my arm. I thought for a moment he was going to let me go, but all he did was grip harder. I cried in pain. All Daniels did was watch down at me, blank expression on his face.

"Why are you doing this?" I asked him.

"Because of us sweetie." The dark voice of Jarrett came from behind Daniels.

Daniels moved to the side, allowing me to see Jarrett, Storm, and Harris walking towards us in the ring. Meanwhile around the ring was Team Canada, all the members glaring in at me with large smirks.

"Oh god."

* * *

**A/N: whoa. what was that all about? what happened to Daniels that made him so cruel? and what does Jarrett and them have to do with it? don't worry, it'll all be answered soon enough.**

**and for those who really want the romance, your gonna have to wait for a few chapters. i have to tell ya, this is probably gonna end up being a rather long story as i'm just about half way through it i think. but hey, i guess if you guys like it so much its worth it. **

**so hang in with me. the romance will start soon. and don't put any possibility out of mind. believe me, you'll be shocked soon enough.**


	24. Chapter Twenty Three

**Chapter Twenty-Three:**

* * *

POV OFF

* * *

"I really want to know what the hell happened to her." Terry stated angrily.

"I know dude, so do we all." Jeff agreed with a nod.

The usual seven men sat or stood around the hospital bed that Tess was currently sleeping on. They had gotten a call an hour earlier from the Hospital saying that Tess had come in unconscious. So here they were, standing around, trying to piece together what had happened to their friend.

* * *

POV ON

* * *

I groaned as my eyes opened slightly. I had no clue where I was or how I got here. The last thing I remember was Daniels standing there, hand gripping my arm, pushing me towards Jarrett and them. That was all I could remember for now. But just the very thought of what had happened brought tears straight to my eyes. I couldn't believe what had happened, even if I couldn't remember it all. It hurt too much, mentally.

"Tess?" the familiar voice of Jay rang out beside me.

I groaned again as I opened my eyes fully. I immediately saw the concerned faces on all seven men around my bed. I was thankful that they cared so much.

"Hi." I greeted them softly.

"How are you feeling?" Jeff asked immediately.

"Okay I guess." I stated, sitting up.

"What happened?" Terry wanted to know.

I opened my mouth to say something, but nothing came out.

"Tess?" Jay's voice came again.

"I can't remember." I said quietly.

"Aw, its okay Tess." Jeff put hand on my shoulder.

I nodded before closing my eyes, trying to remember what happened

* * *

FLASHBACK

* * *

"Oh god." I muttered, eyes widening.

"Surprised to see us?" Jarrett asked, as he stood in front of me, smirk plastered on his face. "Apparently so. Why so speechless McMahon? Don't you want to know what's going on?"

My bottom lip began to quiver slightly, already knowing the answer. Daniels was selling me out too, just like AJ and Raven had. Only the difference there was that they came back because of their friendship. Daniels wouldn't come back. They were never friends.

"I'll take the silence as a yes. You see, Daniels here had completely no shot going against Petey by himself, even with you by his side he wouldn't have won against all of us. That's why we approached him. We gave him the deal: we'll make sure he kept the title for at least one more month, if he gives us you for a bit of payback. He immediately sold you out sweetie. Apparently your not that well liked by these people you consider your friends." Jarrett laughed.

I looked at Daniels, who was looking at Jarrett with an expressionless face. A tear fell down my cheek as I fully realized what had happened. It broke my heart.

"Aww, she's sad now." Jarrett mocked before he, Storm, and Harris laughed loudly. "Poor McMahon, she has no one. Do you really think you have friends out of those people? They'll do the same thing Raven and Styles did. They'll take our offers until you have no one left. Just give it up already and go back to WWE McMahon. You have no one here."

It was then that the whole situation twisted around, creating even more confusion. Daniels let go of my arm and tackled Jarrett to the ground, throwing punches at the man. I stood there, rubbing my arm soothingly, with my jaw dropped open. I didn't know what to think. Daniels a few minutes ago was a cruel hard ass that was sending me more pain then I had ever felt before. And now he was beating up the man who made my life a living hell. I was too confused by now.

"Get the hell out of here Tess." Daniels shouted at me before Storm and Harris threw him off of Jarrett.

I couldn't move. I couldn't understand what was happening around me. I just stood there, still as a rock, confused as anything.

"Tess, go!" he shouted at me again.

I still couldn't move. I didn't know what to do. All I could do was stand there until I felt a hockey stick ram into the back of my head. I cringed as I hit the mat. I quickly rolled around and kicked at Roode who was about to throw a knee into me. I hit him squarely in the knee and sent him stumbling back. Williams then came and grabbed me by the hair, pulling me to my feet. I went to kick him or punch him, anything at all, but Young put me into the same unmoving position that I was in at the tapings last week. I tried to struggle free, but Williams punched me squarely in the jaw, whipping my face to the side. I heard him laugh before grabbing my chin and forcing me too look at him. My face paled as I noticed the same dark and disturbing feature that he held in his eyes, just like last week. I shuddered at the thought of him kissing me before. I couldn't think of anything hat had repulsed me more. Except of course for it to happen again.

Williams had bent his head down and kissed my lips with force. I struggled to get away from him, not finding any pleasure in it whatsoever. All I could think about was how disgusting this was.

"Get the fuck off of her." I heard Daniels growl before ripping Williams away from me and over the ropes, connecting with Roode and A1 below.

I immediately ducked as Daniels clotheslined Young, leaving me able to move now.

"Are you okay?" Daniels asked, going to help me.

"Don't touch me." I told him sharply before feeling the familiar sound of metal hit flesh.

* * *

END OF FLASHBACK

* * *

I opened my eyes. So that was what had happened. I remembered it all now. Daniels somehow ended up helping me. Not that I understood it all. I was more than confused now. I think all I needed now was answers.

"Tess, are you okay sweetie?" Carrie's came traveling into the room.

My eyes darted to her.

"Hi." I greeted her. "Where's the bastard of your boyfriend?"

"What?' she asked confused. "I thought you weren't going to do that in front of me.

"Sorry, but after he knocks me out for the millionth time and sends me to the hospital, I tend to break promises." I told her sharply.

"He did what?"

"How do you think I ended up in here?" I asked her.

She stood there speechless before gaining an angry look on her face.

"Excuse me, I have to go kill someone. I'll see you later." She stormed out of the room.

"Well at least we wont have to worry about that romance anymore." Ray stated.

"Thankfully." AJ grinned before he looked back down at me. "You sure you can't remember anything."

I thought about telling them. But the trouble with that, after I told them, they would just be asking the same questions I was asking myself. What and why?

"No." I replied. "I can't remember anything.

* * *

**A/N: what am i doing to Daniels is probably what your most likely thinking. sorry, have to have some action from him. **

**and why does Williams keep kissing tess? (not that i wouldn't want to switch places with her lol. i mean come on, he's definitely one of TNA's hotties). and is Daniels good now? and what happened fully between him and jarrett? why did he break the deal? will tess ever get the answers she wants? and when in the world is this romance going to start?**

**all will be answered soon...well maybe... ; )**


	25. Chapter Twenty Four

**Chapter Twenty-Four:**

"Tess please just listen to me." Daniels begged.

I shook my head and continued to walk, not wanting to talk to him. It was a week later at the TV tapings. Ever since the day in the hospital, I made sure I didn't see Daniels. As much as I wanted answers, I needed time to think about everything. Not that it did any good. I still got nowhere. But I suppose I just needed the alone time. Now I was here in the Impact Zone, trying to get Daniels off my heel. Ever since I walked into the building an hour ago, Daniels had been following me around, trying to get me to listen to him. I had a small urge to hear him out, but right now, I still needed my alone time. I was just thankful that the guys and Carrie caught onto that, as they hadn't bugged me much over the week. I at least had some understanding friends.

"Tess." Daniels grabbed my arm, the same one that still had a small bruise on it from him.

I winced before turning around.

"Let go Daniels." I snapped.

Daniels looked down at my arm before his hand sprung off.

"Look I'm sorry, just let me explain." He pleaded.

"No." I turned back around.

"I only did it because I didn't want them to hurt you." He stated from behind me.

I stopped. What was he talking about?

"They came to me after the last taping. They said that if I didn't accept the deal, they would make sure you never wrestled again. They were telling the truth. You could see it in those bastard Jarrett's eyes. So I took the deal to keep them from hurting you too much. I knew if I took the deal, I could at least be there to make sure they didn't do anything life threatening. I could at least stop it." He began to explain.

"So I took the deal. That's why I was so cold towards you a few days after the taping. I had to act like I hated you if I was going to potentially hurt you. I wouldn't have been able to pull it off if I just changed over night. So when I saw you last week, and we were in the ring, I made the call to Jarrett for it to happen then. Hence how all of it came out." He finished.

"I still don't get it." I stated, keeping my back to him. "You didn't keep the deal though."

"I couldn't. When I saw you almost in tears, it broke my heart. As hard as that is to believe. When Jarrett finally came in and started his rant at you, the plan faltered. I couldn't take that look in your eyes anymore. It looked as if your whole world had just fallen apart. So I screwed the plan and attacked him." He tried to tell me.

I stood there, trying to take it all in. what still confused me though, which I wasn't going to say out load, but why would he care if my whole world fell apart? Why would me close to tears break his heart?

"Tess?" he asked, walking slowly towards me.

I turned around and looked at him.

"I'm sorry." He told me softly.

I nodded.

"Are we okay?" he asked softly.

I looked at the sincerity in his eyes. I had actually never seen that kind of emotion in his eyes before. I was slightly taken back. But I nonetheless nodded.

"Good." He smiled. "So we can be friends again."

"We never were friends." I rolled my eyes, though a slight smile had fell onto my face.

"That's true." He nodded. "Well, shall we go get ready for tonight?"

"Yeah." I smiled.

* * *

"I'm nervous." I stated with a pout as I plopped down onto the bench in our locker room.

"Why?" Daniels asked as he began getting another ring attire out of his bag.

"It's my first match against another female wrestler." I told him.

"If you can fight men, you can win this match." He assured.

I shrugged. It was about half an hour away from my first real match against another woman here in TNA. During the first taping, Daniels had a one on one non-title match against Matt Bentley, who was of course accompanied to the ring by Traci. During the match when Daniels was about to get the Angel Wings on Bentley, Traci got up onto the ring apron and distracted him. This caused me to angrily run over to where she was and pull her legs from underneath her, making her head connect with the ring apron. Daniels of course then won the match, but now I had to have a revenge match again Traci on the second taping. It wasn't that I didn't want it. I mean, this is my first match against the other woman wrestler on this show. It was exciting really. But at the same time, it was a bit nerve racking. I would now have to prove that I could win a match without all my friend's help against a fellow female.

"You'll do fine okay? I'll be right there to make sure Bentley doesn't try anything. Or anyone else for that matter." Daniels told me, walking over to me and kneeling in front of me.

I nodded.

"Alright, now go get redressed, we only have half an hour to figure out a game plan for you." He patted my knee before standing back up and going back to getting his ring attire ready.

I sighed before grabbing the last pieces of clothes in my bag and heading off towards the bathroom.

* * *

"Stop biting your nails." Daniels grabbed my right hand and brought it to my side, away from my mouth.

I clenched my teeth, my feet fidgeting around.

"Will you just calm down." Daniels shook his head. "Your psyching yourself out."

I nodded, but then started to bounce slightly on the balls on my feet. We were only a few minutes away from going out there and I was freaked. It was an odd emotion, as I had never felt this way before a match.

"Tess. Seriously." Daniels stepped in front of me and stopped my bouncing by placing a hand on either shoulder, holding me down. "Stop. You'll do fine."

"What if I lose?" I asked.

"What if you do? Does it really matter? Everyone loses matches." He told me.

I chuckled. "Coming from the man who hates when he himself loses."

"Yeah, but that's different." He stated.

"How?" I raised an eyebrow.

Daniels smirked. "I'm Mr. TNA. I can't lose."

I rolled my eyes. "Cocky much?"

"Oh all the time. Get ready, we're up." He told me, letting my shoulders go before pushing me towards the tunnel.

* * *

"And the winner is, TESS!"

I grinned as Daniels raised my arm in victory.

"Told you you could do it." He smirked at me.

I laughed. "Just hurry up and get out."

Daniels chuckled before ducking through the ropes, while I slid through the bottom rope smoothly. The crowd began chanting my name, leaving me with a temporary smile plastered on my face.

"Come on, we're holding the taping up." Daniels whispered to me as he wrapped an arm around my waist and led me up the ramp and through the tunnel.

"TM!" Jay's familiar voice bolted at us as soon as we left the tunnel.

"Hey Jay." I grinned as he came bounding at me with a hug.

"Great job." He congratulated.

"Thanks Jay." I pulled back from him with a smile. "Good luck with your match."

He nodded. "Thanks. I'll see you later ok?"

"Ok. Have fun." I waved as I Daniels and I continued walking.

"How long have you and Reso known each other?" Daniels asked as we walked.

"His name is Jay. And for years now. With my father owning WWE, you tend to get to know the workers pretty well." I laughed suddenly.

"What?" he asked, looking over at me confused.

"Oh nothing." I waved it off. "I was just thinking back to the E and C days. Man, those two were hilarious. Jay's really changed since back then."

Daniels nodded unsurely before we reached the locker room.

"After you."


	26. Chapter Twenty Five

**Chapter Twenty-Five:**

"Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way." I sang.

"Tess, that's annoying." Daniels sighed as he watched me stretch.

"Dashing through the snow…"

"Tess really." He sighed, a glaring face shining down at me.

I smiled innocently back up at him before standing up. "Ready."

He rolled his eyes before motioning for me to get into the ring.

"Okay, but promise no surprises. Don't want a repeat of what happened last time." I looked at him.

He chuckled before nodding. "No surprises. Just get in the ring already."

I stuck my tongue out at him like a little kid before sliding through the bottom rope. Once Daniels himself was in the ring I turned to look at him.

"Tell me again why you want me of all people to teach you how to do the Pele kick?" he asked.

"Because." I stated. "AJ laughed in my face when I asked him to teach me. Some friend he is."

"So I'm your second resort is what your saying." He folded his arms.

"More like last resort. I asked everyone I know who like me and they all said no or they didn't want to teach me because they thought I would get hurt. I have some nice friends huh? Though Rey actually did say he would teach me, but he won't be down here till the end of January, and I really don't wanna wait that long so I just decided to ask…"

"Enough, I get the picture." He held up his hands for me to stop. "Lets just get back to business. Do you know what exactly a Pele kick is?"

"A kick?" I stated meekly.

"Pathetic." He muttered, shaking his head.

"Hey I heard that." I crossed my arms.

"Good. And yes it is a kick, but more to it. When a wrestler wants to perform it, his back is to his opponent. They then jump backwards into the air, while at the last second hitting an overhead kick to the opponent." He explained the steps.

"Sounds complicated." I scrunched up my nose.

He smirked. "You wanted to learn didn't you?"

"Unfortunately. Fine teach oh great one. Just make sure I don't break anything."

* * *

"I'm so gonna die!" I moaned.

"You're not going to die Tess. Stop being melodramatic." Daniels grabbed my arm and pulled me to my feet an hour and a half later. "It's not perfect, but we can improve it later."

"Later as in next month when I'll finally be able to feel like body." I moaned as I stumbled into Daniels.

Daniels grabbed onto my shoulders and straightened me out. "More like tomorrow. Go home and die there. I'm sure it wouldn't be good for business if customers come to the gym and see you dead in the ring."

"Ha ha, very funny." I glared at him before slipping out of the ring. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Bye." He called as I walked away.

I sighed as I grabbed my bag from the floor and dragged it along to the women's change room, which was once again empty. Or so I thought. Once I had laid my bag on a bench and was about to remove my shirt, I caught a shadow in the corner of my eye. I stopped the thought of undressing and looked around the room uncertain.

"Hello?" I called. "Anyone here?"

"Hello Tess." The chilling voice of Petey Williams came from behind me.

I jumped and twirled around.

"What are you doing in here Williams? This is the girls change room. Or did your long hair confuse you again?" I asked with a small smirk as he began walking me straight into the wall.

As my back hit the wall, the swell of fear began to increase. Williams smirked as he brought a hand up, tracing my jaw line.

"What the fuck do you want Williams?" I asked sharply.

His finger fell to my shoulder where it then fell slowly up and down my arm, making me shiver from his cold touch.

"I want some fun." He smirked.

"See, I'm not that fun." I rambled.

"I beg to differ." He muttered before kissing me hard on the lips.

I tried pushing him away but he just crushed his body against mine, not letting me move away. Once he had pulled away, I took a long shot and let out a piercing scream.

* * *

POV OFF

* * *

Daniels' head popped up at the sound of a scream. It sounded familiar…

"Tess?" he wondered, looking towards where she had walked to.

He shrugged before going back to his workout. It was the second scream that did him in. he began to worry now. Hearing a scream that sounded like Tess in a gym where too many things have happened, Daniels started to get concerned. So he jumped up from what he was doing and wandered over to the women's change room and knocked on the door.

* * *

POV ON

* * *

I breathed a sigh of relief when I heard a knock on the door.

"Tess? Is everything all right? I heard a scream." Daniels' voice asked through the door.

I went to yell to him, but Williams covered my mouth with his hand.

"Say a word and you'll get a beat down worse than you've ever had before. The boys are just outside the gym." Williams warned me.

My heart began to beat heavily as I tried to think of someway to get Daniels' attention. I then just decided to kick Williams, hoping he would remove his hand from my mouth. It worked well as as soon as I kicked him in his balls, his hand shot from my mouth to his crotch.

"Daniels!"

"You fucking whore." Williams spat before going at me, pushing my body back against the wall and laying a kiss on my lips.

"What the hell did I say about leaving her alone Williams?" Daniels growled before pulling Williams away from me and throwing him across the room.

I slid down the wall with tears in my eyes as I watched Daniels kick and punch at Williams until the bloody form ran from the room. His dark eyes the wandered over to me. I lowered my eyes and looked at my hands, which were in my lap.

"Are you okay?" he asked softly as he knelt before me.

I started to nod my head before giving up the act and eventually shaking my head. I heard him sigh before pulling me towards him, gathering me up into a hug. Once I was situated against his chest I let my tears free.

"I'll kill him." Daniels muttered.

"Thanks." I whispered through my tears.

"Anytime sweetie, anytime."

* * *

**A/N: awwwwwww, Daniels is acting sweet again. lets hope it lasts this time.**


	27. Chapter Twenty Six

**Chapter Twenty-Six:**

"You okay now?" Daniels asked a half an hour after the scene in the locker room.

I nodded slowly. "Thanks."

"No problem." Daniels looked over at me. "You wanna go?"

"Yeah I guess." I sniffed.

"Alright." He stood up and put his hand out to help me up.

I gracefully took the hand and drew myself up. Once I was on my own two feet, I stumbled a bit. Daniels stood back and stopped me from falling into him. After I was situated on my own two feet I looked up at Daniels, who still hand his hands on my hips from stopping my stumbling.

"Are you sure your alright?" he asked, his eyes showing concern.

I started to nod, but stopped. In truth, I wasn't okay. I haven't been okay since I entered TNA. This was just the topping on the cake. Not only did I have to watch out for Jarrett and AMW trying to end my career, I had to watch out for that disturbing Williams now.

"It's okay if you're not okay." He told me.

I looked down before shaking my head.

"That's what I thought." Daniels stated before taking a hold of my chin and lifting my head to look at him. "You wanna talk?"

I shrugged my shoulders. I sort of did want to talk, but I mean with Daniels? He didn't seem like the listening type of guy. Then again, he didn't seem like the caring kind either, but that was surely different now.

"We should probably go, but if you do wanna talk, just let me know okay?"

I nodded before following him slowly out of the change room, my bag in his hands. Once we reached near the exit of the gym, Daniels turned to me.

"I'll see you tomorrow ok?" he asked.

I nodded, looking out the door. My face paled as I saw team Canada leaning against a car lazily.

"What?" he asked.

"Ah, wanna walk me to my car?" I asked, nodding to where Team Canada was.

"Cowards, they always travel in groups." He muttered. "Come on."

He wrapped his free arm around my waist and led me out of the building. We passed Team Canada quickly, only receiving glares from them and nothing else. Once we reached my car in one piece, Daniels turned to look at me.

"You should probably tell your friends what happened today." He advised.

"But then they're going to get all protective over me." I sighed.

"That's what friends do. They'll want to know." Daniels looked down at me.

"If friends get over protective, does that mean you're a friend?" I asked softly.

His eyes connected with mine, silence in the balance.

"Maybe." He broke the silence. "Alright, get going, I'll see you tomorrow."

* * *

"WHAT!" Jeff, Terry, Ray, Devon, Jay, and AJ shouted once I told them what had happened earlier today.

"You guys don't need to shout." I told them, wincing at their reaction.

"So killing them guys?" AJ asked the other five men standing beside him.

"Yeah." They all agreed.

"Guys!" I sighed. "This is why I didn't want to tell you guys at first."

"What did you expect Tess?" Raven asked for the first time since they had all come to the apartment.

I turned to him. "I don't know, and how come you're not all acting crazy with them?"

He shrugged. "I'm smart enough to know that killing them wont solve anything."

"How do you figure?" Terry asked.

Raven sighed. "Think about it. If we try your idea, who else will we have to deal with? Not only that, but think of it logically, they hurt Tess, but killing them won't make Tess feel not hurt. She'll still feel the same, just with them not around."

I watched him carefully. He did have a point, just like he always did.

"He is right guys." I told them.

"Yeah but it'll make us feel better." Jay challenged.

"Jay, guys, please." I pleaded.

The six men looked at me before sighing and nodding. They couldn't resist my sad face when I planted it on. I smiled in relief.

"So now that that's out of the way, can we do something? I wanna get this whole thing out of my head."

* * *

"You're here early." Daniels mused, walking over to where I was in the training ring stretching.

I shrugged. "Wanted an early start."

"Interesting. Ready to finish working on that Pele kick?" he asked, dropping his bag and sliding into the ring.

"Yeah sure." I nodded off handily, standing up.

"You okay?" he asked, looking over me.

"I'm fine. Can we start now?"

* * *

"Sorry." I apologized seeing a few spots of blood run down from Daniels nose.

"Its okay." He held up a hand to keep me back.

I bit my lip and watched as he slid out of the ring and sat on a bench, trying to stop his bleeding nose. While we were training for about 45 minutes now, I did the kick wrong yet again. But instead of hitting him anyplace else; I landed the kick on his nose, making it bleed. I felt kind of bad that I hurt him. Though on the other hand, it was sort of amusing. A small smile appeared on my lips before I slid out of the ring as well and stood in front of him.

"You shouldn't put your head back." I advised him.

"Why?" he asked gruffly.

"Well you could choke on the blood and die." I stated. "And oddly enough that happened to me. Not the dieing part, but the chocking."

"And I'm supposed to take advice from the girl who just hit me?" he asked, raising an eyebrow, but tilting his head forwards nonetheless.

"Yeah. And don't tilt it forward."

"Now why not?" he wanted to know impatiently.

"That I'm not sure about, but my mom always told me not to do it." I stated before fishing through my bag, which was beside him, and brought out a bunch of Kleenex. "Here." I handed them to him.

He took them roughly and applied them to his nose. "Did you always listen to your parents?"

"Hell no." I laughed.

"So why start?"

I shrugged with a smirk. "So, you got hurt by a girl, that's got to get some laughs from the guys."

"Tell them and I'll…" he started.

"You'll what?" I interrupted, amused.

He glared at me before taking the Kleenex away to find the bleeding had stopped. I laughed before sliding in the ring, waiting for him to follow. Daniels rolled his eyes before throwing the blood covered Kleenex away before sliding in as well.

"This time, don't hurt me." He glared at me.

I laughed before nodding.

"Alright, give it another shot." He suggested.

I got in front of him and braced myself. I took a moments breath before taking another chance at the move. I did the back flip part perfectly, but as I was about to kick and hit Daniels, he grabbed my ankle, making me fall onto the mat. I glared up at him while he smirked down at me.

"Not nice Daniels." I stuck my tongue out at him.

"Whoever said I was nice?" he asked with a smirk.

I rolled my eyes before standing up and placing my hands on my hips.

"Your not supposed to sabotage me when I'm learning a new move." I told him.

"Why not, I had to make sure you didn't tell anyone that you hurt me." He shrugged, a smile appearing on his lips.

"Meanie." I grumbled.

"So mature." He stepped forward.

"Yeah well, no one ever said I had to be mature." I shot at him.

He took another step forward, now only an inch or so away.

"What?" I asked, noticing he was looking at me differently.

"Nothing." He shook his head.

I looked up at him, his dark eyes as usual not showing any emotion. But then I noticed a small spark in them. I cocked my head to the side, trying figure out what the spark was. But for some reason, I could decipher it. I had never seen that spark in his eyes before.

"Okay, seriously what?" I asked, noticing he was even closer now.

"Nothing." He repeated, only softer.

My breathing fell heavily as I felt his hands connecting with my hips. I tried figuring out what was happening, but before I could, we were kissing.

* * *

**A/N: whoa, they kissed. what does Tess make of it? why did it happen (though thats a bit obvious)? whats going to happen next? all soon to come.**


	28. Chapter Twenty Seven

**Chapter Twenty-Seven:**

I stepped back away from Daniels shocked. My mouth had dropped open and I had no clue what to do or say. He actually kissed me. And not only that, I returned the kiss. Now I was definitely confused yet again.

"Sorry." He mumbled, scratching the back of his head.

I wanted to say something, but I couldn't. No words seemed to be able to form in my brain. I just stood there, probably looking like an idiot.

"Um, maybe we should quit for the day." He suggested nervously.

I nodded, though still not able to move or say something.

"Tess?" he took a step forward and placed a hand on my shoulder.

My head moved and looked at his hand. I was so confused. This was Daniels here. The man whose hated me for so long now. Well not for long I suppose as we had an odd sometimes like something hate relationship. But still. I just couldn't get it all through my head.

"Look, just pretend that never happened alright?" he told me.

I heard him sigh before moving his hand and turning around, about to leave the ring. Before he did though, I finally found my voice and stopped him. Daniels looked back around at me.

"Um…why…did you…you know…" I pieced together, or tried to piece together a sentence, although it didn't make all that much sense.

He shrugged. "I don't know, I just did. Look its okay, it probably meant nothing. So don't worry about it. Pretend it never happened."

He turned around again and left the ring. I sighed before sliding out as well.

"Wait." I called after him.

He stopped, his back facing me.

"What if…" I paused, trying to figure out how to say it. "What if I don't want to pretend it never happened?"

This caused Daniels to twist around and stare at me. "What do you mean?"

I stepped forward until I was directly in front of him, looking up into his dark eyes.

"Maybe I don't want to pretend it never happened." I repeated quietly.

He looked down at me in slight shock before speaking. "Are you sure?"

I smiled slightly. "Yeah."

He continued to look down at me before bending his head down. I stepped up onto the top of my toes and met him half way. Our lips met, a small spark going through my body. I wrapped my arms around his neck, while he wrapped his own around my waist.

"Whoa, never knew you guys had grown that close." Ray's voice came from the side of us.

I groaned slightly as we pulled away from each other, though Daniels' arms were still around my waist.

"Ray, Devon." I sighed, wishing they hadn't interrupted us.

The two exchanged a smirk and looked at us.

"Sorry to interrupt, we'll just go over there and leave you two alone. Have fun." Devon told us.

"But not too much fun." Ray shouted behind him as the two walked across the gym.

My cheeks flushed as I turned back to Daniels. A smile had appeared on his lips, as well as that spark had returned to his eyes.

"That was kind of embarrassing." I stated.

"Just a bit." He agreed.

"So…"

* * *

"So how are the two love birds?" Jeff asked later that night when it was just Jeff, jay, and me.

I groaned and mentally wanted to hit Ray and Devon for telling everyone.

"I always had a feeling you two would go out." Jay mused.

"I hate you guys." I mumbled before standing up.

"No you don't. Oh come on TM." Jay grabbed my arm and pulled me back onto the couch.

"I mean look at you two." Jeff motioned to the TV, which was playing the first Impact we had taped on Tuesday.

Daniels had just won the match against Bentley and we were celebrating the win in the ring. I did have to admit, Jeff did have a point.

"You two look made for each other." Jay smiled. "And look at yourself in the mirror. Ever since you got back from the gym, you've had a smile on your face. I haven't seen you this happy in a long time."

He was right, yet again. I was happy. I was more than happy even. I didn't know why. Maybe it was because finally something right had happened from coming to TNA. Maybe it was something else. But for once in my life I was thankful I had chosen TNA over WWE.

* * *

"Oh yeah, I totally did the kick perfectly." I cheered happily after actually hitting the Pele kick perfectly the next Monday.

Daniels rolled his eyes but smiled all the same.

"Thanks." I hugged him, startling him.

"Ah, no problem." He patted my back.

I chuckled slightly and kept my arms around his neck. I looked up at him, noticing the spark was still there in his eyes. He wrapped his arms around me and tilted his head down. Our lips were just about to touch when we got interrupted yet again. But this time, it wasn't by one of my friends.

"Well, well, well. Seems the two finally got a little friendlier." Jarrett's annoying voice came from inside the ring.

Daniels and I ripped apart from each other and turned to where Jarrett and now AMW were standing with smirks on their faces.

"Surprised to see us?" he asked, walking towards us.

Daniels and I stepped back, with him putting himself slightly in front of me. I bit my lip, wishing this wouldn't end if a hospital visit, like the last time. But the idea became more full as my back hit another person's chest. I turned around quickly and almost gagged at seeing Williams smirk down at me. He immediately grabbed me, throwing me through the middle and top rope.

"Tess." Daniels tried to get to me.

I watch in slight horror as Daniels was turned around and hit on both sides of his head by chairs at the same time by AMW. My eyes widened, my face paling as I saw his body fall limply to the mat below. I meanwhile struggled to get Williams off my arms, which he had grabbed when he dragged me back up to my feet. I felt him slip an arm around my waist and started to take me away from the ring and towards the exit. I tried kicking him, but that just received a slap to the face. My fear began pounding as soon as I was shoved into the backseat of a car.

* * *

**A/N: what's going to happen to tess now? **

**okay, so you have to kinda love me now, i got the favourite couple together finally. i was actually going to wait for a few more chapters, but i decided i had driven you all crazy by now, so i just slipped it in.**

**what do you all think? and what do you thinks going to happen throughout the romance? **


	29. Chapter Twenty Eight

**Chapter Twenty-Eight:**

* * *

POV OFF

* * *

"What do you mean you don't know where she is?" AJ rounded on Daniels at the familiar hospital.

"Last time I saw her was before I was knocked out. Williams had just gotten her up. That was all I saw. When I came too I was here." He said gruffly and annoyed. He had told them all this a million times already and they weren't getting anywhere.

"I swear I'll kill you if anything happens to her." AJ gritted through his clenched teeth.

"AJ, calm down, it isn't his fault." Jeff and Jay calmed AJ down.

He shrugged and stormed out of the room. Jeff and Jay shot Daniels apology looks before racing after him.

"Don't worry about AJ, he just cares for her a lot and doesn't want her hurt." Terry tried to explain for the other mans out burst.

"I care for her too you know." Daniels muttered.

"We know." Ray assured him. "And we'll figure this all out."

* * *

"I take back what I said before, we're never going to figure this out." Ray moaned at the Final Resolution PPV.

Daniels sat in Ray and Devon's locker room, head in his hands. He couldn't believe it was the night of the pay per view and they hadn't found Tess yet. He lost the only good thing that had ever happened to him in only a day.

"Hey, we'll find her okay." Terry put a hand on Daniels shoulders.

"Maybe something will happen with the Pay Per View and all." Jay suggested. "Nonetheless, I'm going to kick Jarrett's ass straight back to hell."

"We're all going to kick their ass." Devon agreed.

Daniels nodded solemnly.

* * *

"And now, for your second title match of the night, as the challenger, being accompanied to the ring by Team Canada, Petey Williams!" Jeremy Borash introduced the first entrant into the match.

Team Canada strolled down the heel ramp arrogantly. They all slid into the ring as Scott got a mic and began to talk.

"Before the match starts, we have a little footage we want you, and most importantly Daniels, to see. Roll the footage." Scott pointed towards the large titan tron.

The footage of what had happened in the gym a week or so ago played for the Final Resolution viewers to see. Boos erupted through the crowd once the screen returned to its blank self.

"As you see, we took care of Petey's match tonight. He's more than guaranteed to win without that whore of a manager around to help Daniels." Scott laughed evilly.

Daniels couldn't take it anymore; he couldn't take what that bastard was doing. So screwing his music and everything else, he threw off his coat from the tunnel entrance and ran through with his title at his side. He flew down the ramp, threw the title on the ground, and slid into the ring, attacking D'Amore. Williams threw him off and the match started with the ringing of the bell.

* * *

Daniels groaned as he was thrown onto the ground below the ring. He was losing, he knew this. There were too many people hitting him from different angles. The ref was losing control in the match and found it easier to create the match a no DQ stipulation. Daniels had absolutely no control in winning this match anymore. But he didn't care. He wouldn't give up. He would get those bastards back for hurting Tess. Where ever the hell she was anyways.

"Ready to give up yet Daniels?" Williams asked as he began to drag him up.

"Never you bastard." Daniels broke the arms attached to him away and started throwing right hands.

But no matter how many times Daniels got the upper hand, it was shot down in seconds as Roode and A1 grabbed Daniels from behind and started their own attacks.

* * *

BACKSTAGE

* * *

"Crap." Terry muttered as they watched the match.

"This isn't going well." Ray paced around the hallway they were in to watch the match.

"Should we help?" Devon suggested.

"You know what he'll say if we try to help." Raven stated, leaning against the opposite wall and watching the match. In appearance he looked calm, but inside he was furious. He tried all he could to not run out there and tear the skin off of Team Canada.

"What do you think AJ?" Jay asked the quiet man.

AJ looked up at him before looking at the monitor. "I'm going. You guys stay. I'm going."

And with that, AJ took off for the nearest tunnel.

* * *

BACK TO MATCH

* * *

Daniels chocked up blood as he waited for the next attacks by Williams. He was back in the ring with only Williams now, but things still weren't looking good. The only hope he received was when the crowd began cheering and the sound of feet on the ramp got Daniels to roll around in time to catch AJ running into the ring and fighting off Williams. At first Daniels was drop dead angry. This was his match. In now way would TNA's golden boy help him win. But a thought came to him. Though mind you it was a rare thought. He knew he wouldn't win this on his own. Hell, he knew he would lose no matter what. All he wanted right now was revenge. And AJ could help with that. Damn he wanted revenge too. So for once, Daniels let someone other than his manager help him.

"Don't yell at me Daniels." AJ told Daniels as he helped him to his feet.

Daniels shook his head. "Go take care of the others, I want Williams."

AJ immediately nodded before running at the opposites ropes and flipping over them and onto the other members of Team Canada. Daniels took a moment to regain his breathing before he got Williams up and toe kicked before setting him up for an Angel Wings. It was as if a miracle happened because he got through the move perfectly. Daniels smirked before pinning him, hoping for the best. But just before the ref was going to count three, Jarrett's voice came from the ramp. Daniels drew up from the mat and glared over at Jarrett before realizing who else was with him. Beside him was AMW, and in between their hands was a struggling, not to mention somewhat bloody, Tess. Daniels' eyes widened as he saw her. He was about to leave the ring when Williams rolled him up, getting the three pin.

* * *

POV ON

* * *

No. I couldn't believe it. He lost. Daniels lost his title. And just because of me.

* * *

POV OFF

* * *

Daniels hit the mat before getting up and throwing Williams and Team Canada nasty looks. His eyes then landed back on Tess. AJ had now come back into the ring as was beside him, watching the ramp as well.

"Well, seems you lost Daniels." Jarrett spoke.

Daniels clenched his fists.

"Such a sad lost. But you did put up a great battle. Though I'm sure you would have done better if you had this whore of yours with you." He smirked back at the scared girl behind him.

AJ handed Daniels a mic he had previously gotten.

"Leave her the hell alone Jarrett!" he shouted.

"Right, like I would really do that." Laughing came from Jarrett. "Oh no, she's going to stick with us for the time being. Come on boys, lets go get ready for my match."

As if planned, the lights in the arena went off, leaving all men in complete confusion.

* * *

POV ON

* * *

My heart skipped as I saw the lights go off. I had no clue what was going on. I was just happy when I felt Storm and Harris let me go. Wait, why the hell did they just let me go?

"Tess, sweetie, go to the ring." Jay's voice whispered into my ear as I felt a comforting squeeze on my shoulders.

White light was now blinking throughout the arena every other second or so. Normally I would have had no clue where I was going in the almost complete dark. But this time, thanks to the bit of light, I was able to find the ring easily and slid. In. I stood up right when the lights came back on. As soon as I saw him I ran at Daniels.

* * *

POV OFF

* * *

Daniels looked in shock when he saw Tess standing there in the ring, Jay, Ray, and Devon taking care of Jarrett and them. He smiled as she ran at him. He clutched her body to him, not wanting to let her go. They stayed embraced for what felt like ever. He could feel her heavy breathing on his chest. He could hear the small whimper that was escaping her lips from the tears running down her face. Daniels thanked god she was okay. He didn't care that he lost his title to that bastard. He was just happy he had her back.

* * *

**A/N: yay, Tess is back. awwww, Daniels really likes her. who would have thought the cruel, stone hearted man would ever like someone this much. lol so what do you guys think? happy their back together? do you guys think they'll stay together?**


	30. Chapter Twenty Nine

**Chapter Twenty-Nine:**

"I'm so happy your okay." Daniels whispered down to me back in the locker room.

I looked up at him in his arms. "Sorry you lost the title."

He shrugged. "I didn't really care about it. I just wanted those guys to pay."

I nodded and laid my head against his chest. It was so weird how comfortable and safe I felt with him.

"What did they do to you?" he asked after a few minutes.

I knew that was coming. But truthfully, I don't remember. I was knocked out before they took me to the arena and I couldn't remember what had happened. Memory lost was one of the consequences of being hit in the head so many times.

"I can't remember." I replied softly.

"You sure?" he asked, lifting my chin up so I was looking at him.

I nodded.

"Alright. As long as you're okay. God I'm going to kill them." Daniels growled as he ran a hand down my back.

A shiver ran up my spine as I clutched onto Daniels. I didn't want to leave his embrace. He made me feel okay, like nothing was going to hurt me. It felt odd, but nice as I hadn't felt this safe for a long time.

"Hey, sorry to interrupt, but the trainers want to check over Tess, as well as you Daniels." Jay knocked.

"Stupid interruptions." I mumbled.

I heard Daniels chuckle before leading me out of the room.

"They always seem to happen huh?" he asked when we met with Jay on the other side of the door.

I caught Jay smile when he saw us.

"How are you sweetie?" jay asked as we walked.

I shrugged. "Except for a few bruises and cuts, and my head hurting a bit, I'm okay I think."

Jay nodded before e we reached the trainers. "Well I'll catch up with you two later."

"Bye and thanks." I told him as he walked away.

* * *

"Tess, phone!" Jeff's voice broke my slumber.

I groaned and rolled out of bed. It was now Monday morning, less than 24 hours since the end of the PPV.

"Tess, hurry it up, Shawn and Chris don't have forever." He called through my door.

My head popped up. Shawn and Chris. He couldn't mean…? I immediately threw my door open and grabbed the phone in Jeff's outstretched hand.

"Hello?"

"Hey Hun." The familiar voice of Shawn Michaels came from the other end.

"Shawn!" I squealed. "I can't believe its you. I haven't talked to you in ages.

I heard laughter from the other end.

"Well I decided I might as well be the one to call you. I wanted to make sure you were okay. We saw the PPV last night…" he started to say.

"We?" I asked in interruption.

"Chris Benoit, Rey, John, Randy, Trish, Ric and I." He answered.

"Wow, I really haven't talked to them in a while." I mused.

"No you haven't. We've all missed you. So back to what I was going to ask, are you okay?" Shawn wanted to know.

I sighed. "I'm fine. Except for a few scratches and bruises, those guys didn't go nearly as much as they have done to me in the past."

"Yeah that gives me reassurance." He said sarcastically.

I laughed. "So who's all laughing back there?"

"Oh them, no one you'd be interested in." he teased.

"Oh come on, tell me." I pleaded with a smile.

"Well there's Chris, and then there's Rey, oh and I think Ric is coming out of the bathroom right now." He listed off the names.

"Where are you?" I asked, now wondering.

"We all came early to the arena for Raw, Chris and Rey decided to head down here early so they're joining us backstage." Shawn explained.

"Interesting." I chuckled. "So was your whole reason of calling me to wake me up and to ask if I was okay?"

"Naw, that would just be rude. I wanted to say hey."

I rolled my eyes. "Anything else Shawn or should I just hang up now?"

"Hey now." He laughed. "I want to talk with the littlest McMahon. Have seen or heard from you since you went off to TNA. All we've gotten were the sows and PPVs to actually see you."

"True…" I started to say before I heard Shawn talking to someone on the other end.

"John, get a hold on yourself, wait your turn…" Shawn's voice came through muffled.

I grinned. Good old John Cena. He wasn't the patient one.

"TESS!" his familiar voice came through the phone.

"Hey Johnny boy. What did you do to Shawn?" I asked in laughter.

"Oh just did a little FU to him." He joked. "So how are ya?"

"I'm pretty good. And I bet you couldn't even hit the guy." I teased.

"Ha ha, very nice Tess, very nice. Oh I hear you completely forgot about me and are now going out with someone now."

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah I totally forgot about you even when there was nothing between us but friendship John."

"Hey, I always thought you were my hottest friend." He flirted.

"Oh my god john, you definitely haven't changed." I laughed. "And we're not going out…well…I don't know, it's just kind of happened."

"John give me my phone back." The gruff voice of Shawn came on again.

"Dude, I'm talking here. Rude much?" John said muffled.

I couldn't help but break out in laughter by this. It felt nice to hear from these guys. It's been way too long since I've seen or heard from the people I had grown to love like a family through the years.

"Sorry about John." Shawn came on fully now.

"No prob Shawn gotta love him though." I stated.

"Yeah, anyways. What were we talking about?" he asked.

"Absolutely nothing." I chuckled.

"Well that helps. Oh nice match against that Traci girl a few weeks back." He told me.

"Thanks." I smiled.

"Okay, I think Trish is about to kill me if I don't let her talk to you. I'll talk to you soon all right. Oh did Rey tell you about then…"

"The royal rumble is down in Miami and you have a super show the next night here in Orlando. Yeah Rey told me a while ago when he called." I informed.

"Alright, we have to get together. And I don't care what you say, you're coming to the show if you like it or not. Family problems or not. Trish, give me a minute. Geez that girl must really miss you. All right, I love ya kid. See you soon." He went off.

I waited until the familiar hyper voice that belonged to Trish Stratus came from the other end.

"Tess?" Daniels's voice came from my closed door.

I looked over at it confused. Why was he here? Not that I didn't want him to be, but I was still confused at why he was.

"Tessie!" Trish came on.

"Hey, Trish. Could you give me a second?" I asked, getting up off the bed.

"Yeah sure no prob, I've waited this long to talk to you, I'm sure I can wait for a few more minutes." She assured.

"Alright, thanks." I put the phone on the bed before working my way over to the door. "Hey. What are you doing here?"

Daniels looked into my room before at me. "Who were you talking to? And I just wanted to see how you were doing."

"Friends from WWE, and thanks." I told him with a smile.

"So…" he waited.

"Right, I'm alright I guess." I shrugged.

"You sure?" he looked at me, not taking what I had just said true.

"Daniels I'm fine." I sighed.

"You still call me Daniels." He said, a touch of hurt in his voice.

"Sorry, habit I guess."

"I should go then." His shoulders slumped a touch before he turned around and walked back into the hall and out of site.

I kicked myself and the wall for that. I didn't want him to go. And why was I still calling him Daniels? My head was too confused.

* * *

**A/N: kind of uneventfull chapter, but it set up for some stuff later on that u'll find soon. **


	31. Chapter Thirty

**Chapter Thirty:**

"How come he won't talk to me?" I asked Jeff about a week later while we were eating breakfast.

"I don't know. He left sort of…sad I guess when he was here. What did you say to him?" he shrugged, taking a spoonful of cheerios.

I shrugged as well. "I don't know. I called him Daniels, like I always do."

"You called the guy Daniels?" Jeff looked up at me with a raised eyebrow.

"What?" I asked.

Jeff rolled his eyes. "You called the guy you like, who was going crazy not knowing where you were, by his last name."

"I always call him Daniels though." I defended.

He sighed. "How long has he been calling you Tess though? And really if you think about it, you tend to call the people you hate by their last name, not someone you kiss and have feelings for."

I looked down and pushed my full bowl away. Jeff was of course right. How could I have been so stupid to do that?

* * *

"Your not going to talk to me are you?" I asked later that day at our usual training sessions.

Daniels continued on stretching in the ring. I sighed and stood up before sliding into the ring. I waked over to him and sat in front of him.

"Chris?"

His head popped up.

"Look I'm sorry." I told him sincerely.

"For what?" he asked.

I sighed. "For calling you Daniels. It was stupid and I didn't mean to do it."

"Do you really think I wasn't talking to you over that?" he asked, standing up, slightly angry.

I stood up as well.

"Well yeah, what else could you be mad at?" I asked, crossing my arms.

"You won't tell me what's up with you." He stated. "Every time I ask you if your okay, you give me the same answer. But god knows your lying."

"Well excuse me for not feeling up to talking. I mean hello, I was pretty much kidnapped by those guys. You wouldn't wanna be talking about it either if you were in my position." I defended.

"So you do remember what happened." He accused, raising an eyebrow.

I groaned. It was true. I had started to remember what had happened a few hours after the PPV.

"Well, maybe, kind of." I babbled.

"Hence why I'm angry." He said.

I sighed. "Oh come on. Do really want to know what they did. They locked me in a room in someone's apartment or something and didn't let me eat for days. They took away my freedom, and every time I tried to fight back, I was knocked out. God only knows what happened to me when I was unconscious. With Williams around he most likely tried getting with me."

Daniels looked at me.

"Yeah I totally wanna relive those days. They were probably the worst and most horrific days. I didn't even think I would be okay after all that. You know them; they really don't want me here. Jarrett even had that kill look in his eyes a few times that he came into the room. I was scared shitless Chris. I had no one, and I didn't even know if anyone cared if I was gone. The whole time gone, I had this awful feeling that no one cared. That no one was trying to find me. The whole time I felt alone." A tear fell down my face. "I still feel alone. I'm sorry I didn't tell you. But sometimes you just have to take the risk to burry memories."

"Tess." He opened his mouth.

My bottom lip began to quiver as I broke down and cried in the middle of the ring. I soon felt arms around me, trying to comfort me.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to upset you." He whispered.

I looked up and was shocked to see this sad expression on his face. I was so shocked I even smiled a bit and laughed.

"What?" he asked, deeply confused.

"Never thought I would see the day that Christopher Daniels would care so much." I stifled a laugh as I wiped my tears away.

"Never thought I see the day either." He smiled a touch. "Are we okay?"

I nodded. "Yeah."

"So, I'm thinking maybe, for the first time in my life, we could just skip training for today." Chris suggested.

I grinned. "Sounds good to me, but are you sure you're not sick or something?"

"I'm debating if I am or not. Go get changed and I'll meet you outside."

* * *

"Wow I didn't know you could be this fun." I stated, walking through the Universal Theme Park.

Chris shrugged, a smile tugging at his lips. I laughed before catching a glance at a site I didn't want to see.

"How is it, every time something good is happening they always pop up?" I groaned and stopped walking.

Chris followed my glance towards the line for MIB. Standing there, laughing like regular people were the members of Team Canada, minus D'Amore.

"Come on, let's not let them ruin a good day. It's a big park." He led me away from the ride.

"But I really wanted to go on that." I pouted, crossing my arms.

Chris laughed. "Later."

I stuck my tongue out at him before walking ahead of him.

"You act way to much like a kid you know that." He insisted, catching up to me.

"Thanks." I grinned.

He laughed again before wrapping an arm around my shoulders. I smiled at the touch.

"So where to then?" Chris asked.

I thought for a moment before grinning. "Earthquake."

Chris groaned. "We were just on that ten minutes ago."

"What, its my favourite ride." I shrugged, grabbing his hand and dragging him back to where we had come from.

The whole way there, Chris mumbled and gritted about how annoying coming here with me was. I just grinned and continued on the venture to the ride. Soon enough we got there, a long line for waiting ahead of us. Chris tried to tell me we'll come back to it, but I just shook my head and smirked, dragging him over to the back of the line.

"Why did I suggest coming here again?" he muttered.

I smiled up at him as we waited. "Hey stop complaining, it was, like you said, your idea."

He scowled. "I hate myself."

"Aww, don't be too cruel to yourself." I laughed.

"You're really annoying." He crossed his arms and glared at the stares he got from a few people in the line.

"I know. Thanks." We moved along in the line. "So since we're going to be here for a bit, watcha wanna talk about?"

He shrugged, leaning against the railing.

"How did you get into wrestling?" I asked out of desperation.

He shrugged. "I don't know, I just did."

"Wow, so much information there." I rolled my eyes sarcastically.

"Not much to tell. I trained and here I am." He stated.

"And people say I'm evasive." I sighed. "Okay, so um, what's your family like."

"Don't have any." He said simply.

I raised an eyebrow. "Seriously?"

"Yep."

"Okay, since I'm striking out, what do you wanna talk about?" I gave up.

"Nothing?" he suggested with a smirk.

"Chris." I whined.

He chuckled. "I don't know."

"You're the annoying one." I mumbled, pushing Chris to hurry up and follow the line.

"Thanks." He mocked me.

I stuck my tongue out at him. Chris laughed as he wrapped an arm around my shoulders.

"Alright, since you want to talk so much, how did you get into wrestling?" he asked.

I gave him a look.

"Alright, stupid question. Um…do you ever miss your family? Have any regrets coming to TNA and not WWE?" he asked instead.

I pushed him along the line again before thinking of the answers.

"At times I miss them. Who wouldn't miss their family? I was pretty close to my dad and brother. I always went on tour with them when I was a kid. Steph was the one who always stayed home with mom for the most part until she graduated high school. But ever since we were kids, me and Shane always traveled with the company." I paused, a sweep of sadness coming over me.

I felt Chris squeeze my shoulders gently before I continued.

"But yeah, I guess I miss them a lot. I haven't talked to them in awhile. I haven't seen them in ages. It sucks I guess not to have your family's support in your career. And for the regret part, no. Although I miss seeing everyone over there, and although I haven't had the best run in TNA so far, I'm still happy with my choice. Good wrestling for once." I finished.

Chris nodded. "So have you talked to anyone from WWE since you left?"

"Don't you remember when you came to my apartment and I was on the phone with a bunch of them?" I shook my head. "Men, they can't remember a thing."

"Hey!" He mocked being hurt. "That's mean."

I laughed. "It was supposed to be."

* * *

**A/N: wow i finally got this chapter up. i tried yesterday after i wrote it, but it wouldn't work for some reason. so here we are. and yes, i'm treating the two as a couple now. lol**

**what do you guys think?**


	32. Chapter Thirty One

**Chapter Thirty-One:**

I smiled as I watched Chris walking out of the bathroom and back to our table. We had finished our day at universal studios shortly after the second Earthquake go, leaving to head off to dinner. I was thankful it wasn't some fancy kind, as I had enough of those growing up. But no, it was a simple family fun type of restaurant. Truthfully, I never knew Chris had a side like this. Going to amusement parks, restaurants such as this. It was refreshing to know that the mean cold-hearted man was just a cover up, and inside, he was a human being.

"What?" he asked as he sat back in the booth across from me.

"Nothing." I shook my head; smile still plastered on my face.

He cocked his head to the side but shrugged. "You done?"

I looked down at my plate, which was only a quarter of the way done, and nodded.

"You sure? You didn't eat much." He asked quizzically.

"Yeah." I assured him

"You sure?"

"Chris, I'm sure."

An eyebrow raised but he nodded all the same. We waited in brief silence until our waitress came over and laid the bill down. Chris quickly scanned it before dishing out a few bills as well as a tip for the young girl.

"Ready to go?" he asked, stuffing his wallet back in his pants pocket.

I nodded and pushed myself up out of the booth. I waited as Chris did the same before grabbing my coat and throwing it on. It felt weird, yet nice at how as we were walking out, Chris put an arm around my shoulders. Only, unlike the times out in the ring, this was a bit more intimate. I smiled as I placed my body closer to his, feeling the warmth coming off him. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Chris look down at me, a smile in his eyes.

"So, where to now?" he opened the car door for me.

"Ugh, home. I'm dead tired." I admitted as I plopped into the passenger seat and yawned.

Chris chuckled before shutting the door and maneuvering around to the other side. Once he was strapped in, the engine reared up and we were out on the road.

"This was way better than training." I mumbled, resting my head against the window.

Chris looked over at me quickly, smiling. "Yeah, though this doesn't mean we're skipping out of all training sessions. You still have one tomorrow."

"Yeah, yeah, I know." I rolled my eyes.

"So I heard from Jeff that it's your birthday next month." Chris mused.

"Yeps. Joy, 22. Damn I'm getting old." My face scrunched up.

"Hey, I'm older than you." He laughed.

"True. But see, I'm cooler." I stuck my tongue out at him lazily.

I smiled as an eye roll came from him.

"Have any plans set?" he questioned.

"For what?" I asked.

"Your birthday Tess."

"Oh um…" I shrugged. "Probably just gonna hang at home. I'm not big on birthdays."

Chris nodded.

"Anything you want?"

"For what?" I asked again.

"Seriously, I think you've taken one too many shots to the head." He shook his head, turning into the parking lot of my apartment.

"I know." I nodded, rubbing my head.

He rolled his eyes before stopping the car. He turned to me, a seriously, yet oddly enough, a sweet expression on his face.

"Seriously though Tess."

I moaned and shrugged. "Nothing. I hate presents. Personally I see no reason in birthdays. All it does is celebrate another year closer to your death. Yay, lets celebrate that."

"You're a happy one." He smirked.

"Thanks." I stuck out my tongue.

"Oh and so very mature."

"I know." I returned the smirk.

He laughed before leaning over and capturing my lips. I was surprised at it before replying immediately. I felt one of his hands falls slowly down my side, tracing at my rib cage, before resting on my hip. His other lifted to the back of my head, racking through my dark hair. I started to pull Chris closer to me, but interruption happened yet again. I groaned as my cell phone rang like crazy, signaling a call, most likely from one of the men upstairs.

"I should get that." I mumbled in between the intense kisses.

"Yeah." He agreed, though showing no signs of stopping.

I groaned as his lips found their way to my neck, leaving a trail of kisses from my ear lobe to the base of my neck. Before this could go any further though, I quickly, though carefully, pushed away from him.

"Stupid interruptions." Chris glared at the cell phone as I brought it out.

I nodded in agreement before answering it.

"Hello?"

"Tess, where in the blazes hell are you!" Jay yelled into the phone.

It was then that I realized I never told anyone where I was exactly. I mentally hit myself, as these were the type of people who would think I was kidnapped and killed by Jarrett if I wasn't home when I should have been.

"Outside the building." I mumbled.

"Great, now where the hell have you been!"

"Out and around."

"Tess, we've been worried sick about you. We thought Jarrett got a hold of you again. We just got you back, we don't want to lose you again." His voice softened.

I sighed. "Sorry Jay. I didn't mean to worry you. I just completely lost track of time."

"Its alright. So where were you anyways?" he asked.

I looked over at the thinking Chris and smiled.

"Oh, just out with someone." I grinned inwardly.

"Let me guess, Daniels?"

"Yep. I'll tell you the rest in a few. I'll see you soon." I clicked the phone off before throwing it in my pocket.

"Reso I'm guessing. I could hear him yelling from here." Chris rolled his eyes.

I laughed. "Guess I should have told them where I was."

He nodded. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow then."

"Yeah. Today was fun. Thanks, I kinda needed it after everything." I smiled.

"I figured. I'm happy you had fun." His hand touched my cheek softly.

My face burned as blush crept up on me.

"Your cute when you blush." He stated softly.

"I'm always cute." A smile formed.

"That's true." He smiled as well.

"I guess I should go. Thanks again."

He nodded. I quickly gave him a peck on the lips before leaving the car and the amazing day behind.

* * *

**A/N: so sorry for taking so long. i had a huge writers block. it sort of is still there, yet sort of not. i've been doing some thinking for later on in the story actually, and i have two great possibilities that i wish i could roll with. guess i'll have to do the random pickings again lol.**

**sorry this is so short, i didn't really know what else to put in this chapter. its supposed to just show the two in the whole couple role. hope you all like.**


	33. Chapter Thirty Two

**Chapter Thirty-Two:**

"Never, and I mean never do that again." Jay immediately stated as I walked through the door minutes later.

I rolled my eyes with a smirk. Good old Jay, a complete worrywart.

"We've been worried sick about you. We literally thought something happened to you. You know with those bastards out there they could just sneak up on you like they have before."

"Leave the girl alone Jay." Ray stopped Jay from inside the living room.

I looked in and shot him a grateful smile. He returned it before turning back to his conversation with Jeff.

"I just worry about you." Jay said quietly.

I walked up and hugged him, knowing he was true. All he wanted was to make sure I was okay. As much as his over worrying bugged me at times, I couldn't complain. Either I could have no one who cared, or all these guys who cared. I over anything would choose the latter.

"I know Jay, and I get that. I should have told you guys. Sorry." I whispered to him.

Jay nodded, looking down at me.

"So, you were with Daniels huh?"

I grinned and nodded rapidly.

"Details." He badgered.

I laughed. "Don't worry about it."

I tried to shoot past him into the kitchen but he caught me around the waist and held on.

"Come on, you can't just keep these things from your best friend." He whined.

"Who said you were my best friend." I smirked back at him while struggling out of his grasp.

"That hurts deeply." Jay brought my form closer.

"Good." I stepped on his foot, breaking his hold on me.

"Ow, that wasn't very nice." He playfully tried to lunge at me.

I squealed and ran past him and into the living room. I quickly dodged behind Raven, who had been leaning against the wall bored.

"Don't damn well use me as a shield." He growled, moving aside.

I punched him and hid behind him again, though this time latching my hands onto the fabric of his clothes. I heard him mutter a curse under his breath, which only made me stifle a laugh.

"Oh come on Tess, you can't hide behind Raven forever." Jay grinned from in front of Raven.

"I can try." I shot at him

"Hey Raven, wanna move?" he smirked at the man.

Raven looked back at me with a glare before sliding across the floor. I shot him a dirty look before going for my second choice as a shield; AJ.

"How come I was chosen second to be the shield?" he pouted

"Oh shut it AJ." I poked his back as I peered around him at the smirking Jay.

"Maybe I should just give you to the guy." AJ mused.

"No!" I practically yelled. "I love you AJ."

"No you don't." he smirked back at me. "You love Daniels."

I narrowed my blue eyes at him and pushed him playfully.

"Not funny AJ, not funny."

"Oh don't deny it, you like him."

"Shut up." I stuck my tongue out at him.

"You love him." he grinned, meanwhile stepping to the side.

"AJ!" I exclaimed before Christian lunged at me and caught me around my waist. "Ugh, I hate men."

"Would that mean you'd be a lesbian now?" Jay asked.

I tried kicking him but he just moved out of the way. I eventually just rolled my eyes and folded my arms in annoyance.

"Alright, so now you wanna tell me those details?"

"Nope." I shook my head.

"I guess I'll just have to tickle it out of you then." Jay smirked before pushing me onto the empty couch and began tickling me.

I squirmed away, but it didn't really help. I now had the mentality to get Jay back very evilly after this. Before it could go much further though, the phone rang, making all of us jump at the unexpected ring. Before anyone could object, I pushed Jay off me and jumped off the couch and ran to the kitchen.

"Hello?" I asked out of breath while eyeing Jay carefully.

"Tess?" the soft familiar voice asked uncertain.

My heart practically stopped at the voice. I knew it all to well.

"Shane?" I asked just as equally soft.

"Hey sis." He greeted.

"Why are you calling?"

I heard my brother sigh before answering.

"I've missed you."

My mouth opened in shock. I hadn't expected that.

"You what?"

"I've missed you." Shane repeated.

"Why?" I asked stupidly.

"Do you really have to ask that Tess?"

"You guys disowned me, not the other way around remember." I snapped suddenly.

"I know." He sighed once more. "We were just hurt that you chose TNA over your own family."

"I chose it over WWE, not the family." I defended.

"WWE is a family, it's our family, and it used to be yours too."

"You are still my family. Again, you were the one who disowned me. I get you were hurt, but disowning me? That's a bit hasty." The anger I never knew was there began to arise.

Silence reigned over us.

"Are you still there?" I asked, making sure I didn't mistake the silence to be dead air.

"Yeah." He replied. "Look, I'm sorry. I really am. You're my little sister. Out of everyone in the family, you and I had the strongest relationship. I miss that. I miss having that annoying sister of mine following me around, telling me her weird and odd stories from OVW."

A small smile crept onto my lips as I remembered all too well of those stories.

"If it makes any kind of difference, ever since you debuted in TNA, I've been watching. Dad's watched some, mostly just bits and pieces of the PPV's with you on." He tried to inform me. "I have to admit that your one hell of an athlete. I never saw that kind of talent out of you in OVW. Apparently TNA knew how to hone your skills."

Shane took a deep breath before continuing. "I know none of this makes up for the months of us being out of contact and disowning you, but I am sorry. I do want you back in my life. At least just mine. I want my son to grow up knowing his other aunt. I want you back in my family's lives." A moment of silence. "We have a show in Florida in the next week or so. Try to come to either Royal Rumble or Raw. Everyone will love to see you."

"I don't know Shane." I hesitated.

"It's up to you Tess, but I would love for you to come. Bring your friends if you want to. You know you can get in free; I'll just make sure I have a section cleared in the audience for you guys. Please think about it sis."

I bit my lip. Normally, I would have said no. But after everything he's said, a small part of me wanted to say yes.

"Will this be okay with Dad?" I questioned.

"He'll deal. So you'll come?" he asked hopefully.

I sighed. "Yeah I guess so. But be prepared, I am bringing friends."

"Thank you." I could just hear the smile in his voice.

"I should probably good. Jay's glaring a hole through my head." I stopped for a minute. "Thanks for calling. And I missed you too."

"Love you sis."

"Love you too Shane."

* * *

**A/N: sorry sorry sorry! i am so sorry for taking so long...i had a really bad case of writers cramp and writers block...but now im back and i have ideas :D**

**i probably wont be able to update for the next few days, tho i'll try, i have about a million projects on the go...but hey, i'll fit this into the mix somehow, i always do.**

**So what do you think? what's gonna happen when Tess goes to the show? will world war three finally come when her and her father finally meet? tune in next time ;)**


	34. Chapter Thirty Three

**Chapter Thirty-Three:**

"Okay, so everyone knows to behave right?" I asked the six friends in front of me.

"Yes Tess, chill and try to enjoy tonight alright?" Jay told me.

"Okay, you five know about everything, but AJ, you don't. So don't go around saying you're all phenomenal and stuff. You'll get the hell beaten out of ya." I warned him.

AJ laughed. "Do I ever go around saying that."

We all gave him a look.

"Alright, alright, so I won't say it." he backed off.

I smiled. "Ok everyone, this is it. We're going to go see everyone, Carrie is going to say hi to her dad, and then I have to somehow track down my father and see him unfortunately enough. Remind me to kill my brother for making me see my father all right? Oh and try not to bring too much attention to us."

"So who bets she'll break down as soon as we enter the doors." Ray asked.

"Me." Terry smirked.

"Ha ha guys. Okay, lets go." I turned around and started towards the backstage entrance that wrestlers and special guests always used.

I heard the six behind me following as I slowly reached the two guards standing outside the door.

"Hi." I greeted them.

"Miss McMahon." They nodded.

"My brother told you that these guys would be joining me I hope."

"Yes ma'am. These are your backstage passes. Keep them on at all times. Mr.Bischoff knows that you are all coming but no one else does. Have a good night." The guard handed us each a necklace with a backstage pass on it.

We all slipped them on before sliding through the door the other guard held open.

"Alright, that went smoothly. Now to find people." I muttered.

I figured that wouldn't be hard. I grew up around these places, and I knew for a fact that there were always people around every corner. And sure enough, around the first corner was none other then the WWE champ, and one of my best friends, John Cena, talking to a strange girl, who I assumed was someone he was trying to get in bed with. I stopped and laughed slightly as the girl slapped him and stomped away.

"You know you're not supposed to get slapped by them." I said smartly.

John whipped around, shock on his face.

"TESS!" he grabbed me and twirled me around.

"Okay, needa breath there Mr. Champ." I told him.

John laughed before letting go. "What are you doing here?"

I shrugged. "Well, since you guys are in Florida about an hour from where I lived, I decided to come see you all. That and Shane insisted I come."

John grinned. "Well I'm glad you're here. I haven't seen you in ages. Well except on TV. By the way, that Jarrett guy and all of his little lackeys, definitely on the chain gang hit list."

I laughed. "Well I wont have to worry about him now."

John smiled before looking behind me.

"Terry, Ray, Devon. Nice to see you again. Jeff, it's been to long man. Jay feels like I just saw you last month. And Carrie, hey hunny, you wanna…." I kicked John in the leg, making him glare at me before looking at the unfamiliar one. "And I don't know you, but hi."

I rolled my eyes and hit John over the head. "This is AJ Styles."

AJ coughed.

"AJ, I am not saying it." I shot him a look.

AJ smiled innocently before shaking John's hand.

"It's nice to meet you." AJ nodded.

"Yeah." John too nodded before turning his glance back to me. "Did you just get here?"

I nodded. "Yeah, you're the first person I saw."

"Well don't I feel special."

"Don't. Feel lucky." I smirked at him.

"Still have that spunkiness then." He mused. "Well I better go, but I better see you again before you leave. And no not keeping in touch alright, I better get a call from you at least every week."

I smiled. "I'll remember that. Oh and if you see people, don't say I'm here. I wanna surprise everyone. Speaking of which, where's Shawn?"

"Probably his locker room, he's sharing with Kurt and Ric. Go down that hallway, it'll be the second door on the right." John pointed me in the right direction before hugging me. "It was nice to see you again Tess. I'll see you later alright?"

I nodded, breaking apart from him. John flashed me one for smile before walking down the opposite hallway.

"Alrightie, so, where to now?" AJ asked.

"You're too eager." I glared at him.

AJ laughed before putting an arm around my shoulder. I flicked it off before starting to walk.

"Tough break dude." Jeff said to AJ behind me.

I rolled my eyes before walking to where John had said Shawn would be. Once I was at the door and about to knock, I remembered the special way I used to knock on everyone's door when I was younger. I grinned and did it. Two short knocks, three long knocks, two short knocks, and four long knocks. Perfect. I soon heard rustling of feet and braced myself as the door opened and a shocked Shawn Michaels appeared before me.

"Tess McMahon, what in the world are you doing here?" He asked, grabbing me into an embrace.

I returned the hug before looking up at him. "Thought I'd come see everyone, that and Shane insisted. Oh and thanks for the letter. I really appreciated it."

Shawn grinned. "No problem. And I suppose this means you and Shane are good now. You two were probably the closest brother and sister I had ever seen. And I'm glad you're here."

"Me too." I told him before noticing he was looking behind me. "Well you know Terry, Ray, Devon, Jeff and Jay right?"

Shawn nodded with a smile. "Yeah, nice to see you guys again."

The guys nodded back.

"And this here is AJ Styles, one of my really good friends from TNA." I introduced.

"Hi." Shawn nodded at him and held out his hand. "Nice to meet you."

"You too sir." AJ said politely.

Shawn laughed slightly before he saw Carrie. "Carrie Flair. Been a long time. What, I don't get a hug?"

Carrie laughed and gave Shawn a hug.

"Your dad isn't here yet." He told her, knowing she would want to know.

"Thanks." She nodded at him, as they broke apart.

"Hey, hate to do this, but we'll see you later alright, I wanna see everyone, or try to see everyone." I told him apologetically.

Shawn nodded. "No problem, I'm sure everyone will love to see you. Yes Hun, even your dad."

I smiled before waving at him as we began to walk down the hall.

"So this is going good so far." I mused.

"So far?" Terry asked me.

"Hey you never know when something goes wrong. Speaking of which, I swear I hear my dad." I turned around in every which way before I saw the door marked 'General Manager'. I leant an ear against the door and sure enough, heard my father talking with Eric Bischoff. I quickly stepped back, about to turn around when Jeff stopped me and turned me back around, facing the door.

"You have to do it sometime." Jeff insisted.

"Yeah, but how." I whined.

"Well…"Jeff thought. "We could wait until he walks out, go to one side of the hall against the wall, and then when he comes out, be like hi dad or something."

I scrunched up my nose but nodded anyways.

"It sounds pretty nasty in there." AJ observed.

"Welcome to my world. It's ten times worse when I'm in trouble." I said in a sulky tone.

"Cheer up T, he's just about to come out I expect." Ray dodged over to the wall where we were lined up.

As if on cue, my father opened the door and stepped out and immediately turned his back on us, never seeing me or anyone else. He was just about to go strutting down the hall, so this was my chance. I took a deep breath in before stepping forward.

"Hi dad."

* * *

**A/N: haham i apparently lied...i totally forgot i had this already written in an old copy of earlier on in the story...that made my life easier...now y'all have two chaps to make up for my lack of writing.**

**bet ya'll are wondering what Vince is gonna do huh? me too lol...**


	35. Chapter Thirty Four

**Chapter Thirty-Four:**

_"Hi Dad"_

* * *

POV OFF

* * *

Vince McMahon stopped in his place at the unexpected voice of his youngest daughter. Not in a million years did he ever think he would hear her voice in these halls again. Although he held anger towards her for choosing the opposing company, she was still his youngest daughter, his baby at that. He loved her more than anything. It took every single cell in Vince's body to not twist around and run at his daughter. No, he just simply and gracefully slipped around; turning to see the woman he had missed over the past few months. 

"Hi dad." Tess repeated, eyeing the expression on her father's face. She just couldn't read those eyes of his.

"Tess." He nodded.

"Surprised to see me?" she asked, tentatively taking a step forward.

"Very. What are you doing here?"

"Shane insisted I come." She answered.

He simply nodded, still not showing much emotion, even though deep down inside that heart of his, he was ecstatic for whatever the reason was that brought her here.

"Is that alright?"

"He's your brother."

Tess bit her lip. She knew she would get a cold shoulder, she just never knew it would be this hard to pull words from her father's usually ready-to-talk mouth. After a moment of awkward silence, Tess finally broke down and let her old self get the better of her.

"Could we maybe talk, if your not busy that is?" she questioned.

Vince knew instantly the answer would be yes. But at seeing the young men, as well as the woman he had practically adopted as a third daughter, standing behind Tess, he had to keep the usual cool appearance. He looked down at his watch, noting it was still two hours before show time of Smackdown. Plenty of time for a long awaited talk between father and daughter. After what seemed like years to Tess, she finally got her answer in the form of a nod. She sighed in relief before looking back at her friends.

"You know what, I think Jay here wants to go see Adam." Terry stated. "We'll meet up with you later Tess."

Tess gave him a look of gratitude before the six nodded and walked off in the opposite direction. Once they had turned the corner, her gaze fell once again on her awaiting father.

"Do you want to go to my office, or we can get talk over something to eat in Catering." He suggested.

A bit surprised at the suggestion, Tess opted for the second, as she hadn't eaten today, in fear of what was going to happen. So in a brief millisecond, the two silently strode, one ahead of the other, towards Catering. No words were spoken, as if anything either said anything, it would break the moment they had. Both were going through intense emotions. Tess was battling deeply on what she would ask her father once they were situated. Vince meanwhile while trying to contain himself from showing just how happy he was to see his daughter. Both completely different emotions, yet both equally intense.

* * *

"How are you?" Tess finally found her voice once she and her father were situated in seats at the very back of Catering.

"I'm good." He answered.

"How's the company." She looked around quickly.

"You didn't come here to ask simple little questions Tess." He looked at her intently, the same way she herself looked at friends.

Tess sighed, knowing her father was right.

"I don't know what else to say." She quietly told him truthfully.

Vince eyed his daughter. He knew this was difficult for her. It was difficult for him as well. They both hurt one another, each in a different way. She chose TNA over WWE, the company that had been in their family for generations. And He ultimately disowned her. Feelings were hurt, but both knew the past couldn't be undone. Only the mistakes could be.

"Why did you want to come here?" Vince asked.

Tess looked up at him. "What?"

"I know Shane insisted you come, but you could have said no. Why did you accept?"

She shrugged. "I wanted to see everyone. I missed them. I missed Shane…. I missed you."

This shocked both. Tess never knew what her heart did. She never really thought of missing her father until she said it. But she knew it was true. Ever since she debuted in TNA, she felt as if part of her was missing. A small piece of that healed after Shane had called her, but there were still pieces missing. And one was her father.

"I've missed you too Tess." Vince struggled to let out.

"You have?" She looked at him in complete shock.

"Although we've had out differences Tess, yes I have. You're the youngest, the baby of the family, it's hard not to miss that." He answered with a nod.

"Then why did you disown me?" she suddenly snapped, an anger flaring unexpectedly.

Vince looked at her. Tess certainly held the same anger her mother did, as with her sister Stephanie. He had to force back a small smile before answering.

"You hurt me Tess. You chose the opposing company over your own. It hurt."

"WWE has been your company Dad, not mine. I was just born into it." She stated.

"I understand that Tess, but see it from my point of view. All your children except one have a role in your company. Then the youngest, whose always wanted to be apart of it, decided to go to the competition instead. It made use think we weren't good enough for you. Your mother spent countless hours pondering what she did wrong that made you hate us so much that you didn't want to be around us."

Tess watched as he spoke. This was perhaps the most emotion she had ever seen her father give out. It was surprising, yet nice to see that even the great Vince McMahon could hold emotion like any other human being.

"I didn't hate you." Tess eventually retorted. "I didn't hate anyone. I just wanted a place of my own. You know the reputations you, mom, Shane, and Steph have. I didn't want to be adopted into those same reputations just because I was a McMahon. I wanted to be known for my own self, myself as a regular person with talent. Hell I probably would be having 10 times of a better time here then in TNA right now, but at least there, I'm recognized at least some of the time for my talent and not just my last name."

His face slightly scrunched up as if he was in thought. He never knew she felt this way. He never knew she hated the prospect of coming into the WWE and being noticed for only her name. It was now that in a small way, he slightly began to understand why she chose TNA over WWE.

"I still loved you, I mean I still do. I just wanted to get titles, get matches because of the talent I held, not for my name. That and I don't have to fight complete bimbo women all the time, I actually go face to face with men."

A small smile fell onto both faces.

"I did see your first PPV match. It was interesting." Vince finally said.

Tess' head perked up.

"Really? You saw it?"

Vince nodded. "I was proud that you won. That and I hated that little bastard since the day he stepped into my office and quit."

"Yeah, he's the only bad part about TNA." Tess felt a lot more comfortable and let herself gain her old ways back. "What happened between you two that made him hate you so much?"

"A lot of things combined." Vince stated while smirking. "You certainly did show him what a McMahon could do though."

"I was quite happy with everything."

"Before we go any further, that little bastard didn't do anything to you did he?"

Tess, without her father even saying a thing, knew he was speaking of when they took her from that gym weeks ago. She immediately shook her head. Although they did hurt her, she knew he meant much more than just physical abuse. But thankfully, that was all that she got.

"Good. Or else a lawsuit was going to hit him, and he wouldn't be able to do anything about it."

"Oh don't worry. I'm sure he got his from Jay and them at the PPV." Tess grinned for the first time since their conversation began.

"It's nice to see that grin of yours back." Vince mused.

"It's good to talk to you again Dad."

"You too." He replied.

"So are we alright now?"

"I think so."

Tess' grin expanded. "Good."

Vince couldn't help but smile at the happiness that omitted from her. It was nice to have her back. What surprised him though, but he gratefully took, was the large hug Tess gave him.

"I love you dad."

* * *

**A/N: screw what i said earlier about not gonna bet updates in, i'm keeping them rolling lol.**

**alright, so Vince might seem a bit, ah, out of character...but i'm trying to keep him human. although he acts like a bastard on TV, i'm sure somewhere in that no soul of his, he's a regular human being lol. and if u dont believe that, just pretend ;)**


	36. Chapter Thirty Five

**Chapter Thirty-Five:**

"Hey!" I kissed Chris once I saw him at the tapings before the Against All Odds PPV.

"You're a happy one." He smirked, but welcomed the kiss nonetheless.

I rolled my eyes as he wrapped his arms around me.

"So I heard you and your father made up. Happy?"

"More than you can imagine. It feels like everything's all right for once. I'm actually finally happy." I nodded.

"That's good. I'm glad." He kissed my forehead. "Now go get ready, you have a match against Gail on the first taping."

"Yay, I can finally kick that bitches ass." My grin expanded as I pulled out of Chris' arms and headed over to the opposite bench, setting my bag down.

"So what are you doing after the taping?" Chris asked while I dug through my bag.

"Nothing planned why?" I asked, finally finding one of my ring attires and pulling it out.

"Thought we could do something." He mused.

I looked over at him. "Sure."

"Good." He returned the smile.

I chuckled before walking into the bathroom, very content on how life was treating me.

* * *

"Your winner, Tess McMahon!" Jeremy Borash announced loudly as Chris raised my arm in victory.

I grinned out into the crowd as the fans cheered loudly. It was as if everything was going perfect. I had my family back, I had…well I wasn't sure what exactly to call Chris, but I had him nonetheless. For since I started here in TNA, I finally felt whole.

"Tess, watch out!" Chris exclaimed before I felt the crash of glass over my head.

I groaned as I fell to my knees. Chris shortly fell beside me, a chair falling limply beside him. I gritted my teeth before I was pulled to my feet roughly. Once I was standing, I was immediately slapped by Gail. My anger swelled, wanting so much to tackle her to the ground right about now. But even if I wanted to, I couldn't as Harris was holding me in place firmly.

"You fucking bitch!" Gail screamed before slapping me again.

My fists clenched as my head snapped to the side. I had just about enough of her. Before I could even further a plan in attacking her though, Larry Zbyszko came waltzing out onto the face stage.

"Enough of that now." He firmly stated, indicating for Security to now get into the ring.

I thankfully was released by Harris as he, Storm, and Gail slipped from the ring quickly.

"Before you go you three, there's something that, rather two things that need to be said. For one, I've had just about enough of this silly feud between you all. What happened at the last PPV is not acceptable. I want this ended. So at the next PPV, Daniels, you'll get your rematch against Williams. As for you AMW, your going to have that long awaited match against Team 3D. Now for you two ladies, I have some news that I'm sure you and everyone else will be interested in hearing. The championship committee has been paying close attention to all four women in TNA, and has decided that there should be something instated for you to strive for. So for the first time ever, a new title is being introduced. At Against all odds, Gail, Tess, Traci, and Jackie will be in a battle royal match to determine the first ever TNA Women's Champion!"

My mouth dropped open. I couldn't believe it. I knew Larry was going to bring in a women's division, but I never really thought of a title being instated. This was even better. Now I could really prove myself to everyone. That and I'd be able to kick Gail's ass. And knowing her reputation backstage, Traci and Jackie would love to take that girl out just as much as I did.

* * *

"So what do you think?" I twirled in front of my friends later that night after the tapings were done.

"We don't really care Tess." Raven grumbled.

I shot him a glare before looking for the other's responses

"You look beautiful T." AJ grinned.

"Thanks."

"I second that." Ray nodded.

The rest nodded in agreement, making my day. I was trying desperately to look nice for my supposing date with Chris. Thankfully, Jackie and I still held our friendship from awhile back, allowing for me to borrow a few pieces of clothing from her. In the end, a cute black short skirt, and a hot pink sleeveless top, matched with my leather jacket, made the cut.

"Oh that must be him." I muttered at hearing the knock on the door.

"Open it." Devon encouraged.

"You open it."

Raven rolled his eyes before walking over to the door and opening it and allowing Chris in.

"Hey." I greeted.

"Hey." He smiled once he saw me. "You look nice."

"Thanks." A slight blush fell on my face. "Ready to go?"

"Yeah." He nodded.

I waved at the guys before following Chris out the door and into the hallway.

"So where do you wanna go?" I asked while we walked.

Chris fished an arm around my waist and shrugged.

"You were the one who wanted to do something remember." I poked him in the ribs.

I watched as a small smirk fell on his face.

"We could walk around Orlando aimlessly." I suggested.

"How about no."

"Party pooper." I smirked.

"I take that title seriously that you very much." He returned the long awaited poke to the ribs.

I laughed before poking him back.

"Come on, it'll be fun." I pleaded; actually thinking it could be a good time to just talk.

Chris looked over at, eyeing me for a few moments. Eventually he nodded his consent.

"So where do you wanna walk around aimlessly?" I asked while grinning

Chris rolled his eyes. "Wouldn't that take away from the aimless part?"

"Well, fine, take away all the fun." I pouted.

"Is that an invitation?" he smirked.

I rolled my eyes as the exit to the building came into view.

"So, you wanna know what I find odd."

"Not exactly, but I find no way out of hearing these, so shoot." He led me towards his car.

"Well." I thought for a moment. "Have you realized that we haven't been bugged really by Jarrett and them, well for the exception of my match."

"You just jinxed it you know that right." He nudged me before we reached his car.

"Sorry." I chuckled. "But it's sort of suspicious if you ask me."

"You can't just like the quiet can you?" Chris leant against the back of the car and looked at me with a smirk.

"Nope." I shook my head with a smile.

"Should have figured." He rolled his eyes before pulling at my waist to come closer.

A grin appeared on my face as my body hit his chest. His head bent down, contacting with mine. Before our lips could touch though, our least favourite voice interrupted us.

"Look how cute they look Scott. Isn't their relationship just precious." The crude voice of Jeff Jarrett laughed.

I turned and together, Chris and I glared dangerously at he and the complete Team Canada. Oddly enough, Americas Most Wanted wasn't present. Which although was a touch weird, I was appreciating it.

"Fuck off Jarrett." Chris growled, forcing me behind him in protection.

I gladly allowed him to do so.

"Who would have thought the fallen angel would have a heart eh boss?" Scott D'Amore smirked.

I held Chris back as he started for the annoying Canadian.

"And he's been trained like a dog by her too." Jarrett mocked.

"Chris don't." I muttered to him, feeling him trying to get out of my grasp on his arm.

"Look at that. All he is is a mutt now."

That did it. Chris pushed my hand back and speared Jarrett down. Before long though, Roode and A1 had grabbed him and lifted him off Jarrett. Chris fought the two off, but was hit from behind with a bear bottle by Storm. So they were hiding all along. Should have known it. Well, one was there. I wasn't so sure where Harris was.

"Harris, get the girl and bring her over to watch her boy get the beating of a lifetime." Jarrett smirked.

My eyes widened before Harris grabbed me from the side. If I were paying attention to my surroundings, I probably would have caught on that Harris had been crouched down beside the car. I cursed myself as he gripped onto me forcefully and pushed me to where Jarrett and them were standing over Chris, laughing. I clenched my teeth together, willing myself not to say anything stupid and get myself hurt. But a part of me just couldn't let these guys hurt him. It wasn't fair. They hated me, not Chris. They were only doing this to hurt me.

"Watch closely McMahon." Jarrett nodded at Storm who forced Chris to his knees.

My face paled as that all too family guitar was brought out. I wrenched my eyes closed as it hit over Chris's skull with a crash. I couldn't watch as he fell limply to the parking lot ground. It hurt too much to see someone I cared about get hurt like this.

"When he comes too, tell him he has no chance in hell in winning that belt back." Jarrett kicked at Chris' body before striding over to me. "Oh, and for you McMahon, Gail is going to win at the PPV. I'll make sure you'll never get those hands on my titles."

I narrowed my eyes as he stepped closer, his unwanted smirking face a foot or so away from me.

"How does it feel to know that we're going to destroy all of your friends one by one until you decide to leave?" he smirked crudely.

"How the hell does it feel to know you're about to get the fucking hell beaten out of you." The thankful voice of Ray shouted darkly.

My head popped up as Ray, Devon, Terry, AJ, Raven, Jay, and Jeff came bounding at them all. Harris immediately threw me to the ground as he and Storm went at Ray and Devon. Jay forced his way through the battling group and tackled Jarrett to the ground. Meanwhile, Terry, AJ, Raven and Jeff came at the evened Team Canada. I watched in awe as they all fought as if it was their last. Momentums kept going back and forth between the two sides. I almost couldn't keep track of it all. It was when I saw Chris begin to slowly move up that my senses kicked in. I dodged everyone and slid down beside Chris.

"Are you okay?" I looked over his head concerned.

"Just peachy." He said through clenched teeth.

I could feel the rage emitting off of him. I didn't blame him. I felt the same way.

"I'm going to kill him." Daniels said darkly, trying to get to his feet.

I pulled him back to the ground, sensing he wasn't stable enough to stand.

"What are you doing?" He looked at me angrily.

"You're going to hurt yourself more." I told him pointedly.

"I'm fine." He growled.

"Chris." I pleaded with him.

His face immediately softened and nodded with a sigh.

"Let me take you to the trainers. Their all preoccupied to notice we're gone." I insisted.

"I'm fine Tess." He retorted.

"No your not…" I started to say

"Tess."

I bit my lip. I knew the stubborn Chris all too well. But I'd be damned if I let him to run back in there and get hurt even worse than he always was.

"Please."

"Look, Jay's getting tired." He nodded behind me. "I'm going to relieve him."

"Chris don't." I tried to stop him.

But my concern didn't even touch base with Chris as he shot passed me and tackled Jarrett right after he had knocked Jay down. I sighed and watched what was happening around me. Petey was getting the upper hand on AJ now, as was Bobby and Eric. Thankfully, Ray and Devon looked jut about finished with Storm and Harris. But even so, Jay, Jeff, and Terry were all worn out and ready to just stop. But I had a chilling feeling it wouldn't end until everyone from one side was on the ground and not moving. I just prayed to god it was my friends that achieved that and not Jarrett.

* * *

**A/N: its like every moment those two have a cute moment, jarrett comes in to ruin it eh?**

**i figured i should put some action in here, as we havent seen or heard from our least favourite people in the last few chapters. **

**a women's championship huh...think Tess will win? or will Jarrett get his way and make gail the winner? all to come shortly...hopefully lol.**

**so what do you all think?**


	37. Chapter Thirty Six

**Chapter Thirty-Six:**

"Holy crap. What's going on?" BG James and Kip James walked out of the building to find the mess in the parking lot.

I looked up at hearing the familiar voice. Although we didn't hang out really, or do much talking, I was still grateful it was them. I'd known both of them from back in WWE. And like them all, I had a bond, even if it was the smallest, with them.

"World war one." I mumbled as I stood up.

"What happened?" Kip asked, setting his bag down.

"Chris and I were standing at his car when they came. Everything just fell from there." I explained before noticing Chris was being thrown into a near by wall by Jarrett. "I knew he shouldn't have gone back in there to fight."

BG and Kip looked at each other, as if talking mentally.

"We'll be right back." BG winked before setting his bag down beside Kips' and the two of them ran into the mix of things.

I sighed but hoped those two would be able to help end this thing. My hope was shattered though when ten minutes later the battle was still going on. Those who had fallen previously were now up and fighting back, with the new falling in their place. It had started to become too repetitive. I groaned and leant against a wall, rubbing my temples. A headache was coming on from all of this. All I initially wanted was for a nice night with Chris. But did I get that. No. I have a bloody world war one going on my hands.

"Tess! Watch It!" Jeff shouted over at me.

My eyes flew opened from their closed position and I just sidestepped a spear from Gail, who had apparently join in the fight. Gail quickly stopped herself from hitting the wall. But before she could come again at me, I grabbed her long hair and shoved her face into the brick wall. I spotted blood spitting from her head as I shoved her to the ground. With her out of the way, I went back to my thinking.

"Tess!"

I groaned and looked up once more. This time I wasn't so luck and got a chair to the side of my head. I cringed and clutched my teeth together as I fell to my knees. Jarrett grinned from above me sadistically. I growled as I looked past him and caught sight of Chris lying limply on the ground. My heart sunk at seeing his fallen form.

"You're going to lose eventually McMahon." He dragged me up to my feet and pinned me against the wall.

I glared at him as I felt a touch of blood ooze down the side of my head. My rage towards him built up even stronger now. I don't think I had ever felt this much angst, this much hate towards someone in my life before. Jarrett successfully brought these emotions on though. But I wasn't about to let him run me out of this company. I mustered up courage and kicked him in the groin. I smirked as his eyes widened and he dropped the chair with a thud. His hands immediately flew to his groin and dropped to his knees. I kneed him in the face, sending him down to the ground. Once he was down for at least the time being, I grabbed the chair and looked around. I was done being the innocent by stander now. It was about damn time that I showed them what the hell a McMahon could do. With Roode being the closest too me, and having the advantage on Terry at the moment, I decided he's my first victim. I crept over to him, and before he could give Terry one more devastating blow, I cracked the chair over his head. He instantly fell to the concrete ground below. Terry looked at me in shock, surprised that I had that in me.

"Are you okay?" I asked him quickly.

"Yeah." He nodded before standing back up. "How are you."

"Angry." I scowled before noticing Storm beginning to kick Chris, who was still not moving.

Terry followed my eyes movement and frowned. "Go to it sweetie."

I nodded and made my way towards one half of Americas Most Wanted. Unlike Roode though, he saw me coming. He went to hit at me, but I ducked and kicked him instead. He stumbled before coming back for me. This was when I raised the steel chair and shot it at his head. The steel made a devastating crash, leaving Storm crumpled to the ground. With him out of the way, I knelt beside Chris, prodding him awake.

"Chris?" I rolled him over. I gagged as I saw the blood just pouring down his head, forcing its way everywhere it could find free skin, and even that of clothing. Rage tried to get the better of me, but I pushed it down and kept my growing concern instead.

"Chris, come on, wake up." I pleaded with him, trying to rouse him awake.

Nothing happened. Tears brimmed in my blue eyes as I kept trying. I didn't even notice when the last man, Petey, had fallen to the ground unmoving. I never noticed when they all crowded around Chris and I, all bloodied and battered in some shape and form. I never realized it until Devon knelt down beside me and put an arm around my shoulder.

"He'll be okay." He whispered to me.

My lip quivered as I kept trying. I wasn't about to lose him.

"We should call an ambulance." Terry suggested, fishing out his cell phone.

"They'll ask questions." Raven reasoned, looking completely exhausted.

Terry sighed and nodded.

"We have to get him to the hospital." AJ piped up, for once fearing for his once foe.

I began to shake now. Not from the chilled air, not from the small rain that had begun to fall, but from the fear. Chris just laid there, not moving. It looked as if he was dead. It scared the hell out of me. I didn't want to lose him. I needed him. I always had, even when we hated each other, we still needed one another.

"Come on Tess." Devon "we'll take him to a hospital, he'll be alright."

I felt numb as I nodded. I didn't even realize I was doing so. I felt too numb, too scared to even know what was exactly happening around me.

"You two wanna get him." Ray nodded at AJ and Terry.

The two nodded and bent down on the other side of Chris. The two slowly grabbed a hold of him, slowly and carefully lifting him of the ground. I watched with tears streaming down my face as they put his arms around them and slowly took off towards Terry's car. Once he was out of site though, I broke down.

"Shh." Devon held me tightly as I cried.

The others just looked on helplessly. None of them knew what to do to help or make the situation all right. All they could do was watch as I cried.

* * *

POV OFF

* * *

"What's taking so long?" Terry mumbled angrily. 

"I don't know." Jeff plopped down next to him in the emergency waiting room.

"It can't be serious though right?" Devon bit his lip. "I mean he's been hurt like this before."

"Who knows." Raven shrugged. "We won't know anything until those bloody doctors tell us something."

"Where's Tess?" AJ asked suddenly, realizing she wasn't present.

"She's getting stitched up. Jay's with her." Ray assured the younger man.

"You think she'll be alright?" Terry asked now.

Silence reigned over them as they thought. None of them actually knew just how much Tess had cared for Chris until now. They had a connection that was hard to come by. One that couldn't easily be broken.

"If he's alright, I think she'll be." Jeff eventually answered. "She cares so much for him that she just fell into shock out there. I'm sure once he's back on his feet she'll be just fine."

"I hope your right man." AJ sighed.

"So do I." Jeff muttered.

* * *

"How are you doing sweetie?" Jay asked Tess who was sitting on the hospital bed in one of the many emergency rooms. 

Tess shrugged. Jay just sighed and wrapped his arms around her, bringing her into a hug. He knew she was scared. You could just see it in her eyes.

"He'll be alright TM." He whispered in her ear.

"What if he isn't" her small voice asked, worry clearly stated in her tone.

"He will be." Jay assured.

"But.."

"No buts, he will be okay." He looked at her intently, making sure he got it across.

Eventually Tess nodded, though her eyes betrayed her and stated that she couldn't believe him. Jay sighed and took a step back as the doctor came back to check on Tess.

"Well everything seems alright. You have a small concussion, but nothing serious. I would just recommend resting for the next day or so. I'll make sure I make a call to the head trainer where you work and make sure that he takes your stitches out next time you work. Other than that, you can go." The doctor told the two.

Jay nodded and helped Tess down before thinking of asking the doctor for information on Chris.

"Oh, ah, you wouldn't by chance be able to tell us anything on the condition of Christopher Daniels could you?" Jay asked.

The doctor looked up from his clipboard hesitantly.

"We're only supposed to give information out to family." He stated.

"He's her boyfriend." Jay pointed at Tess.

"It's supposed to be family."

"Please?"

The doctor looked at him before glancing at the fear faced Tess. He slowly nodded.

"I'll find out what I can and tell you and your friends in the waiting room." He sighed.

Jay smiled slightly and shook the doctors hand. "Thank you so much."

The doctor nodded and left the room.

"Hear that Tess, we'll know for sure about Chris soon." Jay wrapped an arm around her and led her towards the waiting room.

Once there, all the men stood, noticing their friend.

"How are you?" Jeff immediately asked.

Like she did towards Jay, she shrugged and walked past him to sit by herself in a chair.

"She's not doing so well." Jay sighed and sat down across from terry.

"Understandable." Ray nodded.

"Has anyone been able to contact Carrie? She seems to be able to get Tess feeling better whenever she's down." Jay asked.

"She's still in Nashville with Dixie Carter." AJ sighed "she said she'll try to get out here as soon as she can."

Jay sighed and rubbed his temples.

"Were you able to find anything out about Chris?"

"The doctor said he'll find out what he can for us." Jay answered.

"Finally." Raven growled. "What's the use of these hospitals if you can't find anything out!"

"Dude, calm down." Jeff glared at him.

"I'm just stating a fact." Raven glared back. "Is anyone going to go over there to talk to her?"

They all shook their heads.

"Idiots." Raven muttered before standing and walking towards Tess.

Her head never moved from it's down position as Raven sat beside her slowly.

"Tess?" he asked.

"Go away." She mumbled.

"I'm not going anywhere." He stated. "You need at least someone to talk to."

"Then why would I want to talk to you." Her head rose so she could shoot her raged eyes at him. "I don't need to talk to anyone. And if I did, it wouldn't be with you."

Raven raised an eyebrow. He never knew the girl had it in her to have that much rage. I suppose having Jeff Jarrett on your back every waking moment drove even the most innocent to such a stage.

"Just go away." She growled at him.

"No."

"Fine, I'll go then." She made a move to get up. Raven instantly grabbed her arm and dragged her back to her seat. "Let me go."

"No. You need to talk. And seeing as those idiots are too scared to come over here to talk to you, I'm doing so. So start talking sweetie, because I'm not going anywhere." He told her in a demanding voice.

Tess just glared at him defiantly.

"Tess." He warned.

"Fuck off." She looked away.

"No."

"Look Raven, I don't wanna talk to a selfish, cold hearted bastard that only cares for himself. So go find someone else to try to help. I'm not interested." She told him coldly.

Even for a man like Raven, her words stung him. Although he knew he didn't have a strong bond to her like the other men, but he still thought he had something. He couldn't actually believe her words.

"Didn't I tell you to go away." She tugged her arm out of his grasp. "Go get drunk or high. It's what your good at."

With that, Tess got off and stomped off to across the waiting room. Raven just sat there, shocked, confused, and a touch hurt.

"Hence why none of us wanted to talk to her." Jay walked over.

Raven lifted his head and glared at him.

"Hey, I was just stating the truth. Whatever she said I'm sure she didn't mean it."

"Whatever." He growled.

Jay raised an eyebrow before shrugging it off as the usual Raven attitude.

"Come on, the doctor is here." He motioned towards the group.

Raven looked over and nodded. The two walked over just as the doctor started to speak.

"On the condition of Mr. Daniels…"

* * *

**A/N: wow, i just gotta say, 100 + reviews, thats just awesome. i just wanna say thanks to those who have reviewed and those who keep patient with me with the story. **

**now onto story items...don't worry, i wont kill Chris off...or will i? lol just kidding, the guys too important to kill off lol. **

**What do you think of the attitude Tess held. she was one mighty rude one towards Raven. could this start a break in the alliance? who knows. i know i dont lol.**

**Hope y'all enjoyed it. tell me what you think.**


	38. Chapter Thirty Seven

**Chapter Thirty-Seven:**

"On the condition of Mr. Daniels…he appears to turn out alright. He has a very worrying concussion, but it wont be life threatening. He's unconscious at the moment, and will be for the next few hours, or even the next day or so. He has a minor break in his shoulder. It'll take 2 to 3 weeks for that to heal completely. I would recommend at least a month of rest. He shouldn't be wrestling in his condition."

"So he'll be alright." AJ asked.

The doctor nodded. "We did have a scare due to him not responding earlier, but he now is breathing easily and responding as he should be."

"Alright, thanks doctor." Ray told the man appreciatively.

The doctor nodded before walking off.

"At least he'll be alright." Terry sighed.

"Thankfully." Jay nodded before glancing at Tess. "Does anyone volunteer to go talk to her and tell her the news?"

"I vote you." Jeff stated.

"Thanks man." Jay glared.

"Well Raven couldn't get to her, so you're the next one in line." Terry urged him.

"Fine." Jay sighed. "I'll be back soon."

"Sooner rather than later." Devon muttered.

Jay ignored the comment and walked over to where she sat in solitude. He slowly knelt down in front of her, making her head pop up.

"What?" she asked in a gruff voice.

"We found out Chris' condition. He's going to be okay. He just has a minor break in his shoulder and a nasty concussion." Jay informed her, not bothering to tell her about the scare that was almost there, knowing she didn't need to know about it.

"Is he awake?" her face softened.

"No." he said. "The doctor said he won't be awake for hours, or even a few days. But he'll wake up I promise."

Tess nodded. "I want to see him."

"I'll go see what I can do." Jay answered.

"Thank you." She stated before going back to her solitude as she brought her legs up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them.

Jay sighed before standing up.

"You didn't mean whatever you said to Raven did you?"

"Maybe." She shrugged.

He raised an eyebrow but stopped the conversation, seeing she didn't look as if she wanted to talk. He simply walked back over to the group, knowing they wanted to know how she was doing.

"Still really closed off." Jay told them. "But she wants to see him, so I'll be right back."

The men nodded as Jay went off to talk to the doctor.

* * *

"He looks so dead." Tess mustered out at seeing Chris' lying form.

Jay squeezed her shoulders.

"But he's alright?"

"Yeah he is." He assured her.

"Could I have time alone with him?" she looked back at Jay, tears brimming her eyes.

"Sure no problem TM. I'll be in the waiting room if you need me." Jay told her encouragingly.

Tess nodded before sitting down beside Chris' bed. Once the door was closed, she took his unmoving hand into her own.

"You better damn well wake up soon Chris." She muttered. "I need you."

Tess sighed. She didn't know what to say. All she could think of was the rage she still felt towards Jarrett. Right now, all she wanted was revenge. She didn't care how much she got hurt by them, but when they hurt her friends, that was the last straw. Now they would have to deal with the real wraith of a McMahon. And like many know, it's not a pretty site. World War Three was about to debut in TNA.

"Chris?" she looked at his form, feeling a twitch in his hand. Her heart fell, as his eyes remained closed. "I'm going to get revenge for this. I don't care about it anymore. I'm not going to let them hurt anyone anymore."

"Just promise me you'll wake up Chris. I need you. As much as that sounds cheesy, I do." Tess whispered before stifling a small laugh. "It's odd isn't it? When I first came into the company months ago, we hated each other. And now here we are. Something good finally came out of being here. And they almost took it away. I don't think I'd be able to stay in TNA if it wasn't for you. Every time I had doubts, you always shrugged them away. You never let me give up. As much as you used to hate to admit it, you made me fight that first match at Bound For Glory. You gave me the will to fight on and win. Without you, I would have lost. I probably would have quit after that. Thanks to you it all worked out."

"Miss?" a nurse asked from the doorway. "Visiting hours are over."

Tess looked up and nodded sadly.

"I have to go. I'll see you again tomorrow." she stood.

"I know you can't hear this or anything, which is probably why I have the guts to say this to you. But, I really want you to know that…I think I love you." Tess turned towards the door. "I'll see you soon."

With that, Tess walked out the door, not noticing the stirring figure in the hospital bed. Seconds later, dark eyes opened, pain flashing through them.

"Oh dear, you're awake. I'll go get the doctor." The nurse rushed out.

Chris barely heard her as he tried to gain any comprehension to where he was. His mind was just too cluttered to remember much. All he knew was that voice that was just talking to him. A small smile formed on his face as he remembered the words she said to him.

"_I think I love you."_

In truth, he loved her too. He knew ever since those bastards took her from him. Although this happened, he still loved her.

"I see you're awake." A males voice entered the room.

Chris tried to sit up, and did so with struggle.

"Take it easy there. You woke up sooner than we expected you would have." The doctor stated, looking down at his clipboard. "How are you feeling Mr. Daniels."

"Like hell." He answered.

"An adequate answer considering."

"Is there anything serious?" Chris asked, touching his head, which shot a tremendous amount of pain throughout his body.

"You have a large concussion and a minor break in your shoulder. Nothing life threatening. But I would suggest 3 to 6 weeks off wrestling."

"What!" his head popped up to look at the older man. "But I have to wrestle."

"I know you might think this, but your health is more important. And I know your friends will agree with me."

"Friends?" Chris looked confused. The only one he really had was Tess. Who else would there be?

"All those men in the waiting room. A large sum. They look pretty concerned. As well as your girlfriend. I'm sure they'll agree that you need the time to heal." The doctor looked down at him.

Chris instantly knew who was being spoken off. Her friends. They were actually worried about him. He never though he'd actually be grateful towards them. Especially Styles. But life kept giving him surprises.

"Is she still here?" Chris asked suddenly.

"Yes. I believe they're in the waiting room. They fought with a nurse quite a lot about wanting to at least stay in the same building as you."

"Can I see her?"

"I can only let in blood relatives after visiting hours." The doctor told him sympathetically.

"Please. I love her. I need to tell her that." He pleaded.

The doctor thought before sighing. "I suppose. But only her."

"Thank you." Chris breathed as the doctor left the room.

He wasn't so sure if he would actually tell her that he loved her. It just came out. Sure, he knew he felt it. But could he, Christopher Daniels, actually admit it to the woman who he hated only months ago? Was it even possible to be feeling this way about someone in just a short amount of time? The ethical answer would be no. But Chris held a feeling that for once, he had to forget logic. He knew he loved her. No matter the circumstances. He loved her.

"Chris?" Tess' small vice came from the doorway.

"Tess." His eyes fell on her and sparked.

"I'm so happy your okay." She rushed over and hugged him.

"Tess, still in pain here." He smiled.

"Oh my god. Sorry." She popped off him and sat in the chair beside his bed.

"It's alright. You're okay too I see. No one could tear you apart I see." His hand went up to touch the bandaged cut on her forehead. "Jarrett did that I assume."

"Yeah." She nodded slightly. "Are you sure your okay?"

"I'm okay. A little pain here and there. But I'll live." He assured her.

"I was really scared Chris." She whispered.

Chris looked on as tears fell in her eyes. "Come here." He moved over on the bed so she could sit on it.

Tess hesitated before nodding and sat on it looking at him.

"I'm here aren't I? Nothing's wrong with me except a nasty concussion and a shoulder injury. I'll be fine." He wiped away a stray tear.

"I know." Tess looked down. "I just…"

"I know Hun." His hand grazed her cheek. "I'll always be right here though alright?"

She nodded.

"So on a happier note, I hear I have some worried people out there. Styles wouldn't happen to be one of them would he? I would love to be able to mock him with this." He grinned.

She laughed, not able to believe he just woke up from a fight like that, and all he wanted was another way to mock his foe.

"So, is he out there?" he pestered.

"Yeah he is. Everyone is." She nodded.

"Good. Can't wait to get back on my feet. Mocking is my specialty you know." Chris smirked.

"Oh I know that all too well." She rolled her eyes.

"I bet you do." His hand rested on her neck before bringing it towards him.

Their lips touched slightly. They only touched for a moment before both felt something. It was as if an electric current was flowing through them, pulling them closer. They indeed did, but unfortunately, like it always did, an interruption happened.

"You know, when we finally get the doctor to let us all see you, we don't expect to see you two already making out." AJ rolled his eyes as he and Jay strolled into the room.

"We need a vacation on an isolated island where no one can bother us." Chris sighed as Tess moved away.

"I'll book one as soon as I get near a computer." Tess laughed.

"At least now I can start the mocking." A smile fell on his face.

"Mocking?" Jay and AJ asked in unison.

"Worried about your enemy Styles? Really, you need to work on that. Biggest weakness. Will never be able to win a title again if you keep this up." He smirked at the man.

AJ rolled his eyes. "Hey dude, I helped your ass out there. And I brought you unconscious to this hospital. You better appreciate that."

"I enjoy the mocking better Styles."

"At least now I can get my title back that you stole from me." AJ smirked, winking at Tess. "I hear you won't be able to do much wrestling for the next month or so. Leaves me wide open for a shot."

Tess rolled her eyes at the two's immaturity.

"Guys, could we gloat and mock another time?" Jay asked.

"Whatever." The two mumbled, yet two grins were on their faces.

Tess and Jay shared a smile.

"So how are you feeling?" Jay asked.

"Pain, but I'll live." Chris answered.

"Thankfully, who else is going to kick Williams' ass."

"I'm standing right here people!" AJ threw up his arms.

"Ah, you know we love you AJ." Tess smirked.

"You better damn well do." He muttered.

She rolled her eyes before looking at the time.

"Maybe you should get some rest. We can talk in the morning."

"Now it must be getting serious AJ, she's mothering him. She only does that to people she lov…"

"Jay!" she glared at him.

He smirked. "Sorry. Nothing meant there. We'll just leave you two alone."

The two winked at me before leaving silently. Tess looked back at Chris, who held a smirk on his face.

"What?" she asked cautiously

"I heard what you said." He continued to smirk cockily.

"Said? What are you talking about." She asked looking confused.

"Before I woke up. I heard what you said."

Her face paled.

"You were probably dreaming or something." She mumbled.

"So I just pretended to hear you say you loved me?"

"Probably." She nodded rapidly.

"So I suppose I shouldn't say that I love you too." He shrugged. "Fine with me I guess."

"Good…wait, what?" her eyes grew wide.

Chris chuckled. "Took you a bit. And you heard what I said."

"You-you love me?" Tess whispered.

"Depends on if you actually said it." He smirked.

Her mouth fell open before she composed her self. She immediately bent down and kissed him.

"I'll take that as a 'yes, I do love you Chris'." He stated, pulling away from the kiss.

Tess rolled her eyes before grinning.

"So who would have thought the hell of a night could turn out all right." Chris mused before she kissed him again.

"Who would have thought."

* * *

**A/N: i know i never would have thought it would have happened lol. i almost scared myself earlier and thought i had writers block with this chapter. but oddly enough, i got sick earlier on tonight, and the ideas started flowing. hell, if that happens all the time when im sick, i wont complain about colds anymore lol.**

**so the two said they loved eachother...cute huh? i guess i'm making everyone happy by having them together. i know i'm happy. and yay, i didn't kill him off lol. i know i would be getting some flames if that happened.**

**but what's gonna happen still with Raven and Tess? and what about the PPV? will they change the matchup so AJ has the shot, or will Chris find a way to make it to the ppv? anything can happen...**


	39. Chapter Thirty Eight

**Chapter Thirty-Eight:**

"I can't believe I have to be out for a whole bloody month." Chris growled over the phone a few days later after he was released from the hospital.

"It won't be that bad Chris. Sure you wont be able to win the title back, or get revenge at Jarrett. But at least now you'll ah…well…I'm sure there's something you could do." I stifled a laugh.

"Not funny Tess." He moaned. "How am I supposed to make sure that bastard doesn't touch you at the PPV?"

"Don't worry, I have other bodyguards." I rolled my eyes.

"Doesn't make me feel any better. Have I mentioned you're lousy at that?"

"Oh shove it Chris. At least your not stuck in the hospital anymore. That's a plus."

"I guess." He sighed. "So what are you up to for the rest of the week? You better be training."

"Of course I am." I lied. "Every day."

"You're a lousy liar too."

"Thanks." I chuckled before hearing the beep of an incoming call. "Hey hold on for a minute, someone else is calling."

"Apparently I'm also second rate."

"Oh be quiet Chris, you know I love you. I'll be right back." And before he could answer I clicked the other line out. "Hello?"

"Finally sis. Took you long enough." Shane's voice came through.

"I was dealing with a cranky hurt boyfriend. I'd like to see you go super fast."

"Is that a challenge?" I could just hear the smirk in his voice.

"No." my eyes rolled "so why are you calling Shane?"

"Oh, just thought you'd want to know the new idea of our father's." he stated.

I groaned. "What now?"

"Well, seems Shawn has been telling people about your little romance lately. Dad overheard him and Paul talking, so now he wants to meet this guy. And how Mom and Steph hadn't seen you yet, they've decided on taking a little trip next week to see you. Not to mention they also had the bright idea to go to the PPV. I talked them out of that, and just to watching it at the hotel. But he still wants to come down."

My face paled.

"He wants to meet Chris?"

"Yep. Thought I'd let ya know that."

"Thanks." I groaned. "You'll be there right?"

"Me and Becky yeah. Wouldn't miss it. Steph and Paul as well. She can still travel for the next month or so with her pregnancy." Shane reassured.

"I almost forgot I was going to be another aunt." I mused. "But this completely sucks. Ugh."

"It won't be that bad. I mean you and dad jut got your relationship back. I'm pretty sure he wont want to ruin it over this. Give him a little credit Tess."

"Fine. When should I expect you all?" I asked.

"Wednesday." He informed.

"That at least gives me some time. Oh and this wouldn't by chance also be for my birthday would it?"

"No. Of course not." He laughed sarcastically. "I better go. Becky wants the phone. I'll see you soon Tess. Take care."

"Yeah you too. Kiss that nephew of mine for me."

"Will do. Love you."

"Love you too." I told him before ending the conversation. I sighed and composed myself before putting Chris back on. "Back."

"You said a minute, that was longer." he teased.

"You wont be joking after I tell you what just happened. My brother just called." I started. "Apparently my dad wants to come down with the fam to see me, as well as to meet you."

"Meet me? Why do I not like this?"

"Because he's Vince McMahon that's why." I sighed. "You don't have to do it if you don't want to. I mean he'll probably hate you. He hates everyone I date. We could always make an excuse. Yeah, that's it!"

"Tess." He interrupted. "Calm down babe. It's all right, I'll do it. I have to meet them sometime. Sure I'm meeting the McMahon's. I'm sure it wont be that bad."

"No." I moaned. "Just world war two in the making."

"It'll be alright Tess. When are they coming?" he asked.

"Wednesday." I stated.

"Well we have what, four or five days? It'll be like preparing for a match. Which by the way, I'm still not over how you want to put AJ in my spot."

I rolled my eyes. "Well, who else from our group could kick Williams's ass?"

"I guess, but I still don't like it." He mumbled.

"I know. But you'll get the title back soon enough." I assured him. "You should go and rest. So you'll be ready when you come back."

"I'm not dying. I don't need rest. But I'll let you do. You better damn well come over here sometime this week. I'll go insane being by myself."

"You used to do it before me." I smirked.

"Yeah well, I blame you for this."

I laughed. "Thanks Chris, I feel loved."

"Good. You should."

I rolled my eyes. "I love you too. I'll talk to you soon. Bye."

"Love ya."

* * *

"Oh god, oh god, oh god." I hyperventilated Wednesday evening.

"Tess, calm down Hun." Chris rubbed my back. "It'll go alright. I promise. And if not, well…we can always go to that island we were talking about and never come back."

I let out a small laugh. Leave it to him to turn a serious moment into a laughing one.

"See there's that smile I love so much." He grinned.

"Shut up." I pushed him away jokingly before hearing the buzz of the intercom. "Oh god, that's them."

"Go get it then." He pushed me up.

I sighed, straightened my simple black dress, and walked over to the door.

"Hello?" I pressed the button on the intercom.

"Hey sis. Becky and me here. Dad and them are in traffic so we got here before them." Shane stated.

I sighed in relief. "Thank god. Alright, come on up."

"Thank god what?" Chris asked, standing up and walking over to me.

"My dad and the rest of them are stuck in traffic. Means they wont be here for a bit." I looked over Chris' attire, which consisted of black slacks, and a button up silk grey and black-stripped shirt. "Have I mentioned you look hot in that."

Chris smirked. "Have I mentioned you look drop dead gorgeous in that dress?"

"No." I smiled, reaching up to peck him on the lips just as the phone rang. "That'll probably be my dad."

Chris nodded while I walked the two seconds and picked up the phone.

"Hi dad." I greeted.

"Shane told you we're going to be late then?" his voice came through.

"Yeah. How long do you think you'll be?" I asked, hoping for hours, maybe even days.

"Half an hour at least." He stated.

Long enough I suppose.

"Alright, I'll see you then."

I quickly shut the phone off before he could reply. A knock of the door sounded quickly afterwards, sending my face to its pale feature once again.

"That'll be Shane." I sighed.

I quickly walked the distance and opened the door. I was immediately hugged tightly by who I guessed to be my older brother.

"Hey Shane, it's been ages." I grinned.

"Weeks, but same thing." He returned the grin as he let me go.

I rolled my eyes before hugging Becky tightly. "Now you I haven't seen in ages. You still look amazing for a woman whose has a child."

"You look amazing yourself Tess." She smiled brightly at me before looking at Chris.

I sighed, knowing this had to come sometime. I walked over to Chris, wrapping an arm around his waist.

"Shane, Becky, this is the infamous Christopher Daniels. Chris, this is my brother and his wife." In introduced.

Shane immediately shook Chris' hand, as did Becky.

"It's nice to finally meet the man who made my lil sis so happy."

Becky nudged him as I blushed. "Don't embarrass your sister." She muttered.

"Sorry." Shane stated, though not looking sorry.

Chris looked down at my nervous form before speaking.

"Don't be sorry, it's interesting seeing her embarrassed, usually she babbles. Hilarious."

"I like him." Shane grinned.

I rolled my eyes and hit Chris playfully.

"Nice way to get in with my brother Chris."

"Thanks." He winked at me.

"So would you two like anything to drink?" I asked as I ushered them into the living room.

"We're fine." Becky told me. "Relax, do the worrying when your dad arrives."

"Oh I'll be doing plenty of it." I sighed as I sat beside Chris.

"Like I said on the phone Tess, he won't be that hard on him."

"You've said that for all my boyfriend's he's met." I rolled my eyes.

"True." He laughed.

"At least we have thirty minutes hell free." I sat back against the couch comfortably.

"That long? Wow, they really must have taken the bad route." He smirked.

"Thank god for that."

"So, as we're already going to get this from dad, I wont go for the hard questions." Shane looked at Chris.

"Shane." I shot him a look.

"What? I just want to talk." He replied innocently.

"Yeah uh huh." I rolled my eyes.

Shane chuckled. "So my sister told me you were in the hospital, how're you feeling?"

Chris glanced at me before answering. "Been better, but I'm healing up."

"How much time do you lose?"

"A month." Chris frowned.

"He has to miss the rematch for the X Division title Sunday." I explained.

"That sucks." Shane nodded. "But I hear you get a chance at your own title Tess."

I grinned. "Yep. Hopefully I win."

"You will." Chris smiled down at me. "You're the best woman in the company."

"He's right. You always have been the best." Becky agreed.

"I blame the family I was born into." I chuckled.

"Always blaming the family." Shane shook his head with a smile.

I laughed before hearing the buzz of the intercom. My face paled. It hadn't been a half an hour yet.

"You should probably get that." Chris nudged me.

"Can't we pretend no ones home." I groaned.

"No." he pushed me off the couch.

"Meanie." I stuck my tongue out at him before walking slowly towards the intercom.

"Hi dad. Come on up." I buzzed him in.

"You know that could have been an axe murderer you just let up." Shane smirked as the three stood and walked towards the door.

"Good, then he could kill me." I sighed as I waited beside Chris.

Chris stifled a laugh as I nudged him.

"Behave." I muttered.

"Calm down then." He whispered.

"You try being in my shoes."

"Sorry, I don't do heels." He winked.

I rolled my eyes as the knock sounded.

"Are you sure we cant jump out the window now?" I asked the three.

I sighed as I got shakes of the head in return.

"Party poopers." I muttered as I went to the door and opened it.

"Hey."

* * *

**A/N: ooo, the dreaded meeting the parents...what do you think is gonna happen?**


	40. Chapter Thirty Nine

**Chapter Thirty-nine:**

"Hey dad." I greeted as my father, mother, sister and brother-in-law stepped through the door.

"Tess." He embraced me, as did my mother.

"Good to see you hunny." My mother told me, looking me up and down. "You look the same."

"So do you mom." I smiled. "Wow Steph, don't you look big."

"Thanks." She smiled brightly as she gave me her own hug, although it was a bit awkward due to her pregnancy.

"Where's my hug Paul?" I looked at the taller, and most definitely bigger man.

He rolled his eyes before hugging me tightly. "Shawn and Ric say hi." He muttered in my ear before pulling away.

"Thanks." I mouthed before taking a sigh and looking around for Chris. Hey it had to come sooner or later. Although I would have rather later, they were here now. So I really had no choice.

I took a deep breath before introducing them.

"Dad, Mom, Steph, Paul…this is Chris. Chris, everyone."

Chris nervously outstretched his hand, intending on shaking my fathers hand. My father looked at him impressed before nodding in greeting and shaking it.

"Nice to meet you sir. As well as you ma'am. I can see where Tess gets her looks from."

I rolled my eyes and blushed as my mother smiled.

"So shall we go to dinner?" hoping to get away without any questions being asked.

"I'm sure we can wait for a few minutes." Paul smirked.

I glared at him.

"Paul's right." My father looked around the apartment. "This is where you live?"

"Yeah. It's originally Jeff's, but he offered to let me live here when I first got here. Jay Reso lives here too." I mentally hit myself. Definitely something to never tell your father: your living with two guys.

"Look's nice Tess." Steph said, breaking the silence.

I shot her a grateful smile before noticing my father and mother walking into the living room. I groaned, knowing what was coming next. They did this every time, or at least my father mostly did it. He would sit my boyfriend down, and drill him constantly. It drove more than half of my relationships away.

"Oh no." I groaned as Stephanie pushed me towards the kitchen, the same routine as we did every time our father did this for our previous relationships.

"Give it a bit. Maybe it wont go that bad." Stephanie assured.

"Come on Steph." I eyed the living room as I jumped up onto a stool. "You know as well as me that every time that dad does this for our relationships, they tend to end the wrong way."

Stephanie chuckled. "You never know."

"What do you know that I don't know?" I looked at her after briefly glancing at Paul, Shane, and Becky.

"Nothing." She smirked.

"Come on. Steph, you can't just leave me like that." I whined.

Steph looked into the living room, stifling a laugh at the pale face Chris held.

"Well let's just say mom gave dad a lecture on the way. Told him to give this one a chance. It's been five minutes and he hasn't run away yet. That's a good sign." She grinned.

I looked over and nodded. "Guess I missed that about mom."

"She's missed you too." Steph stated. "We all have."

"Yeah for you guys too." I looked at the four. "It's been a bit weird not seeing you all."

"I can see why you went with them." Paul piped up, entering the conversation. "Your amazing in the ring. And you'll make an amazing women's champion too."

"It'll run in the family." Steph put an arm around Paul and grinned at me.

"Thank god I'm the more talented one though." I teased.

"Ouch that hurt." Paul glared.

"Oh come on, doesn't look like your Mr. Champion right now."

"That's only because Johnny boy has it." He scowled.

I laughed. "Is someone jealous?"

He glared. "No. I'm just stating a fact."

"Uh huh." I rolled my eyes. "So what have you all been up to?"

"Other than being pregnant, nothing for me." Steph answered, touching her large stomach.

"Nothing here…wait, what's dad doing?" Shane pointed over to the living room.

I stretched my neck around and almost fell off the stool when I saw my father outstretch his hand to Chris. Although I had never seen my father do this to a boyfriend before, I knew what it meant. It was a truce, his approval. I grinned as Chris hesitantly took it.

"Told you it would go okay." Shane grinned too.

"Well." My father stood, helping my mother up as well. "How about we head to those reservations."

I looked over as Chris stood up, a small smirk on his face. I grinned as I walked over.

"Your not dead." I whispered, walking out with my family.

"Thank god." He smirked before kissing me quickly.

* * *

"Come on Chris, I have to go." I rolled my eyes as Chris kept rambling on the phone as I got ready for the PPV tonight.

"Just remember everything alright. Keep the pace fast; keep with the flips and twists, and…" he rambled on.

"Chris!" I stopped him. "I'll do fine. Now I really have to go. I have to get my boots on before finalizing everything with AJ."

Chris sighed. "I just want you to win."

A smile etched on my lips. "I know, I do to. And I will. But if I don't go, something might go wrong tonight. So I'll see you later?"

"Right after the show. I'll be watching." He answered. "Go kick some ass for me tonight."

"I will. You can count on it." I grinned.

"Alright. I love you."

"Love you. Bye." I hung up the phone quickly, making sure Chris couldn't input anything else.

I quickly shoved the phone into my bag before finishing tying up my boots. When finished, I took a quick glimpse into the mirror before grinning and leaving the room. It felt slightly odd being here at the PPV without Chris. For as long as I'd been here, he had always been in that locker room with me. I was always in his matches, either at the end of the whole thing, and he was always in mine. For once in my career here in TNA, I was by myself. Sure, I was going to have AJ in my corner, but I still felt the loneliness in my heart.

"Hey T." AJ's cheerful voice came from behind.

"Hi." I greeted him offhanded.

"What's wrong?" he asked, noticing the not so cheerful expression.

"Nothing I guess." I shrugged, yet knowing that wasn't true.

"Come on T, I know you well enough to know something's wrong? You nervous about tonight?" he put a hand on my shoulder, making me turn around at him.

"No, I'm actually not nervous for once. Its just that…" I trailed off.

"You miss Chris don't you?" he asked.

I shrugged. "It's the first time he hasn't or wont be there for my match. It feels weird not to have him in the arena with me. Even when we hated each other, we still had one another for out matches. It just feels weird."

AJ nodded. "I understand. But hey, he's here in spirit. And anyways, he's already stated he's calling every five or ten minutes." He rolled his eyes. "That man is going to have one hell of a phone bill."

I cracked a smile.

"There we go. Keep that infamous T smile on while we go kick some ass. Your match is up in ten minutes you know."

My face drained of color. "Ten minutes."

"Oh don't start worrying now. You'll do great. You know that. You're going to have help from Traci and Jackie for the first part anyways. Both of those two hate Gail just as much as you do. So you know you wont have to worry about her. Jackie, as much as I like her, she doesn't have as much talent as you and Traci, so I just see Traci as your biggest threat. And even then, I see you becoming the first ever TNA Women's Champion." AJ grinned.

I smiled and nodded. He always knew what to say to make me feel confident about myself.

"So you ready to head to the curtain?" he asked.

"Yeah." I nodded.

* * *

"And as the last contestant of the Battle Royal, being accompanied to the ring by AJ Styles, hailing from Stamford Connecticut, 'The Dark Angel' Tess McMahon."

I made my usual entrance, though this time using my own music and not that of Chris', with AJ beside me. The crowd went nuts when they saw one of their favourite X Division stars. With a small nudge from AJ, bringing me back to reality, I looked down at the ring with the three other women in it. I inhaled sharply before quickly strutting down the ramp and slipping into the ring. After posing for the cheering crowd, and seeing AJ sending me an encouraging grin, I eyed the other side of the ring, seeing Jeff Jarrett as the one who has accompanied Gail to the ring. I also caught sight of Matt Bentley, but quickly forgot about him. He wouldn't be much problem. It would most likely be Jarrett that gave me a hard time. But I knew AJ had my back, and with my talent, I knew I could win this easily.

Soon, the bell rang, allowing for the four of us to start the match officially. I eyed Gail before exchanging looks with Traci and Jackie. We all smirked and nodded at each other before coming to an agreement. Get Gail Kim out of the match. So that's just what we planned to do. With knowing my history with the woman, Traci and Jackie held back as I speared Gail who had her back to us to shout at the crowd. As the crowd cheered in uproar, I smirked as Gail cried out in pain. Not wanting to have all the fun, I held Gail down in place with my boot, allowing for Jackie to stomp on her and drag her up by the hair. We then looked at each other before throwing her into the ropes and doing a double team clothesline. The cheering grew even louder as Gail hit the mat. Now allowing Traci to get her shots, Jackie and I stood off. Jarrett meanwhile was shouting at the ref to stop it. I rolled my eyes as his stupidity before realizing he wasn't at his side of the ropes anymore. I looked to the closest sides and saw nothing. But I soon knew where he was after he dragged me to the mat by grabbing my legs, and pulling me out of the ring. My eyes flashed in rage as Jarrett kicked at me. Before I could even think about doing anything, AJ ran over, jumped to the ring apron and did one of his amazing back flips onto Jarrett. As the crowd chanted, I got up and slid back into the ring.

As I did, I noticed that Jackie was down on the mat, and Traci soon followed after devastating DDT by Gail. I sighed, knowing it would come to this, and quickly shot up and gave her a double kick. As she fell to the mat, I jumped at the nearest ropes and gave her a moonsault. I then grabbed her by the hair and got her up, trying to take her over the ropes. But unfortunately, Gail held onto the ropes tightly, not allowing herself to be thrown over. I groaned in frustration and tried a few more times before she began elbowing me in the gut. I eventually let her go as Traci came up from behind and gave her a neck breaker. I sighed in relief as Traci and I took turns in kicking her. Once Jackie came back into focus, the three of us decided on a triple team move. With Gail down, the three of us took her and successfully threw her over the top rope and to the ground below. I grinned as Jarrett has a tantrum around the ring. My celebration was cut short as I felt an elbow to the head. I fell to the mat as Traci and Jackie started to kick me together. I should have expected those two would go for me next, as I was the biggest threat in the match.

I didn't keep myself down for long though. I quickly caught their legs in mid kick and twisted them around, causing them to fall. I got my strength back before doing a standing shooting star press onto the two women. As a cheer arose I struggled up and looked at the two. I knew I wouldn't be able to take both on at the same time, so I decided on taking Traci out, as Jackie will be an easy win at the end. So I kicked Jackie out of the ring, by the bottom rope, and took my attention to Traci as she slowly got up. I waited as she turned around before giving her an enziguri kick, dazing her back to the mat. Seeing the opportune, I quickly climbed up the nearest turnbuckle and went to give her a smooth leg drop. Unfortunately, she saw it coming and was able to move out of the way. I winced in pain as I connected with the mat instead of a body. Before I could feel Traci hit an attack on me though, I was roughly pulled out of the ring. As my side hit the mats below, I groaned and look up at the sadistic face of Jeff Jarrett.

"There's no Daniels around to save you this time McMahon." He smirked as he dragged me to my feet and flung me head first into the steel steps.

I heard the refs try to get him to the back, but he just swung them away and came back for more. He grabbed onto my hair and repeatedly slammed my head into the steel, forcing my head to crack open. I cried out in pain, wondering where AJ was.

"Oh, don't worry about golden boy, James and Chris are taking care of him." he whispered cruelly into my ear.

My face paled as he forced my head up to see them taking AJ, bloody and all, into the crowd.

"You made a mistake in taking Gail out. Your now going to pay for it." He forced me up and into the ring.

I rolled towards the middle, my head looking every which way. My heart stopped as I saw Traci and Jackie lying motionless in the ring, blood sporting their foreheads. AMW had already reached them and had taken them out. This was beyond personal now.

"Oh get up." Jarrett laughed as he kicked my ribs.

I half rolled away from his foot, trying to escape the pain rupturing in my head. Eventually, as I was 'hurrying up', Jarrett himself grabbed a handful of my hair and roughly dragged me to my feet. He stood me before him, just smirking down at me. He finally threw me at Harris and Storm, who had slipped behind me into the ring. Their hands grabbed at my arms, latching onto them forcefully. I tried to struggle, but this only caused for them to grip harder. As I winced in pain, I saw Jarrett grab his guitar from ringside. My eyes widened, knowing this all too well. He stalked over to where I stood and just smirked at me.

"Tell your little boyfriend a message from me." Jarrett raised the guitar, looking ready to strike. "Tell him never to mess with Jeff Jarrett."

He swung out his guitar, but before anything could hit, the lights in the arena went out...

* * *

**A/N: whoa, finally, i got this chapter done. sry it took so long, had a bit of trouble with the writing. but i just came up with an amazing twist that no one will expect...and its about to start right now. what do you think this means...? why did the lights go out, and whats going to happen with the match and the rest of the PPV?**


	41. Chapter Forty

**Chapter Forty:**

My head snapped around as the lights went out. I felt no guitar hit my skull, giving me the reassurance that whatever was going on, it was a mystery as well as a spook to Jeff Jarrett. Either way, with the distraction, I quickly struggled from the grasps of AMW and headed to what I presumed to be the ropes. I didn't dare go outside the ring, I just wanted something solid and familiar around so I could figure out what was happening. I tensed myself up as I felt someone else in the ring. I at first thought it was AJ, but when I heard him behind me, I began to wonder who else was in the ring. Earlier I had noticed Matt Bentley had also been taken out. So whoever this was, it had to do with the lights being out. Or they were the reason for it.

"Hey are you okay?" AJ asked, standing on the other side of the ropes behind me.

"I think so." I muttered back at him. "What's going on?"

"I don't know." He looked around. "Something's going down. I can't see who else is in the ring, but he's taking out Jarrett and them, so I praise whoever it is."

I nodded.

"Think we should leave?" he asked.

"The match." I reminded him.

"Not really sure it's still going on." He advised. "We should go before anything else happens.

I sighed but slowly nodded, knowing he was right. But before I could leave the ring, the lights flew on. AJ and I looked around the ring, seeing Jarrett, AMW, as well as Traci and Jackie on the mats below. Though when my eyes fell to the other side of the ring, I turned confused. Standing in the ring was a figure, dressed in dark blue jeans and a hooded black sweatshirt. His hood was drawn over his face; only a darkened part of his lower face was seen. I looked at him, or who I guess was a him, trying to understand who he was and why he just did all of that. But before any answers could be given, he slipped out of the ring with the bell ringing.

"The winner of the match, and the first ever TNA Women's Champion, Tess McMahon!" Jeremy Borash announced.

The crowd cheered as I stood in shock. Not just of winning the belt, but also of the man striding backwards threw the crowd. Now I was intrigued, I wanted to know who that just was.

"You won!" AJ grabbed me tightly and embraced me.

I eyed as the man went out of view before turning to AJ. It was then that the win registered in my head. I won. I actually won the belt. I was the first ever women's champion in TNA. I actually did it. Not exactly sure how it happened, but it did. And I was damn well happy about it. I squealed and grinned up at AJ.

"I did it." My eyes sparked as the ref entered the ring with a belt in his hands.

My eyes widened as he stepped forward, outstretching his hand with the belt in it. My hands shook as I took the belt. It just lay in my hands. I couldn't move as I looked down at the gold plate with my name. I felt AJ squeeze my shoulders as I looked down at it.

"You did it." He grinned.

I nodded, finally hearing the up roar of the crowd. I grinned as I lifted my hand with the title up into the air. The crowd cheered louder. I couldn't ever remember being this happy before. I always knew I would remember this day for the rest of my life.

* * *

"Congrats Tess." Terry hugged me tightly once I reached the guy's locker room.

I hugged him back grinning. "Thanks. I can't believe this is really happening.

"You deserve it." Ray smiled.

"Oh, T, Chris is calling." Jay walked over, handing over his cell phone. "And great job out there."

"Thanks." I grinned before taking the phone. "Hey Chris."

"Congrats Tess. I'm so happy you won. I knew you'd be able to do it. Oh nice standing shooting star press. And on two people. Nice. Just purely amazing. Except when that bastard got involved. I swear I'm going to kill him. One way or another." He stated quickly.

"Whoa, calm down Chris. I can't understand fast ramblings." I laughed.

"Sorry. But damn. You did it Tess."

I grinned. "I know. I wouldn't have been able to do it without you."

"I wasn't even there."

"You always made me keep on fighting. You never let me give up." I stated softly.

"Don't go all mushy on me Tess." I could just hear his smirk in his voice.

I rolled my eyes. "Keep with that attitude and I'm going to hang up on you."

"Alright alright. Sorry. So how is your head?" he asked.

"Just cut open. I've had worse." I shrugged.

"So who was that they helped you in your match?" he asked casually.

"Truthfully." I looked around the room and saw that everyone was having their own conversations with each other before continuing. "I have no clue."

"I tried to figure out who the hell it was, but I could tell. Any idea?"

"None whatsoever. I mean, it's probably someone who hates Jarrett. But if it were someone from the roster, they'd just come out. They wouldn't use the lights and hiding their appearance." I suggested.

I could hear him thinking. "So it must be someone not on the roster. Anyone from the WWE?"

"Possibility. But probably not. I mean they'd get their ass fired like that." I sighed.

"But." He stated slowly. "Maybe that was why they were disguised."

"True." I touched my head, which had begun to hurt again. "But I'm not going to worry about it for now. We still have AJ's match later to worry about."

"Are you sure your okay?" he asked, noticing the exhausting tone.

"Yeah." I assured, though knowing I was still in a bit of pain, as well as confused. "I'm fine."

"You sure?"

"Chris, I'm sure. I should probably go. My brother is probably trying to call me, knowing him and all."

"Alright. I'll see you soon?"

I smiled. "Count on it. See you later."

"Love you. And I'm proud of you Hun."

"Thanks." I grinned now. "Love you too."

With that, we both hung up, both feeling different emotions.

"You two were talking about that mystery guy weren't you?" Devon asked.

I nodded slowly. "Yeah. Any clue to who it could have been?"

"Maybe someone for once just wants to help. But of course you wouldn't like that now would you?" Raven growled.

I glared at him. "You don't have to be so gruff Raven."

"Its your own fault. I'm just acting the way you told me to act. Or how you said I act." He stood up and glared as well.

"Oh stop being an idiot Raven. It is how you act." I retorted angrily.

"At least I don't have everyone on the TNA roster on my back, trying to take me down slowly until I fall and can't get up." He walked closer, getting in my face.

"Well at least I have people who care about me. What do you have? You didn't have these guys until I came along. You had no one. I was the one who kept you in WWE as long you did. I was the one who kept my father from kicking your ass. Without me, you'd have nothing."

Raven's eyes narrowed, his dark orbs glaring at me dangerously.

"Guys, cool it." Terry stood.

Raven and I continued to glare at each other before eventually a smirk fell on his face.

"You can talk shit all you want Tess. But at least I know who I am. I know when I'm wanted and when I'm not. You never got it did you Tess. Who really cares about you here? It's clear enough that I don't. What about AJ? He was the one who betrayed you first. What about Daniels? He won't stick around for long. And everyone else? Don't count on it." He took the last few steps towards me, now towering over me.

I looked down. I couldn't' look at him. The rage in his eyes was too much. I couldn't take it.

"Can't look at me can you? Can't handle the truth." He smirked.

"Come on you two." AJ tried to stop us.

"Back off Styles." Raven growled, though keeping his anger filled eyes on me.

"I think its time you backed off." AJ grabbed onto his shoulder.

Raven just shrugged his hand off, still smirking down at me.

"Why don't you go back to that company of yours where you belong. You might have won that title, but you'll never be apart of the TNA Family." He sneered before stalking out of the room.

A single tear fell down my face as I kept my stare at the floor.

"Tess?" AJ walked to me slowly.

"I-I have to go." I brushed past him quickly and out the door.

I glanced around before wiping the tear away. I started down the hall, trying to not show any other emotion. But it didn't work so easily as more tears came as I wiped one away. I know I said some rather harsh things towards Raven, but did he really have to say those things? Those were beyond hurtful. He took all my fears, my worries, and he displayed them cruelly. He acted just like Jarrett.

"Watch where your going McMahon." Jarrett sneered as I almost bumped into him.

What were the odds that the last person I wanted to right now happens to be the one I almost bumped into? Although this was supposed to be a happy and cheerful night, all I've had was misery so far.

"What, no apology for almost bumping into me?" he pushed me against a wall.

I rolled my eyes and glared at him.

"People don't apologize for _almost_ bumping into someone." I challenged, crossing my arms.

Jarrett walked up and pinned me against the wall.

"Don't forget who runs this place McMahon."

"Oh stop with that crap already. You haven't gotten me out of TNA yet, and you wont. So stop with the whole 'I own everything' routine. Its getting boring now." I sighed.

He gripped onto my shoulders tightly, making me to force back a wince.

"Such strong words for someone whose loosing their friends left and right. I heard you and Raven had a fight. A pretty nasty one at that." A smirk adorned his face.

I narrowed my eyes.

"How the hell did you know about that? It just happened."

His smirk widened. "I know everything that happens around here."

"Really?" I raised an eyebrow. "So then you'd know who that was who kicked your ass in the ring earlier? Because if you don't mind, I'd love to know."

His smirk fell. Seems Mr. Know-it-all doesn't know as much as he says he does. He's just as stumped about this as I was.

"Guess that's a no. No biggie, always knew you were a liar." I shrugged under his grip, my own smirk falling into place now.

Jarrett's cold blue eyes narrowed before he grabbed onto me and threw me into the wall across from us. I cringed in pain as I slid down it. I eyed him as he walked over, his familiar sadistic look again plastered on his face.

"You seem to not know when to shut that mouth of yours." He kicked me in the ribs.

I stifled a cry as I grabbed my side. He kicked me again before kneeling down to my position.

"As much as you back talk and show your tough, its not that hard to figure out you'll be an easy beat. Mark my words; I will have you out of TNA. You wont be tainting my company much longer." He grabbed my chin forcefully, making me look directly at him.

I glared at him before catching a shadow of someone standing beside Jarrett. Before I could look up to see who it was, a boot came at the side of my head with such force that it put me under conscience

* * *

**A/N: interesting chapter. and im at my forty chapter mark :D lol**

**so Tess and Raven and a fight. i really see these two fighting it out for awhile. **

**but on a happier note, Tess is the first ever TNA Women's Champion. who'll be her first challenger? maybe Gail Kim? or even Traci or Jackie?**

**and i know this is fresh on all of your minds...who is the mystery man?**


	42. Chapter Forty One

**Chapter Forty-One:**

* * *

POV OFF

* * *

"Kicking things isn't going to help anything." Ray laid a hand on AJ's shoulder.

AJ sighed but nodded, knowing he was right. He just hated seeing Tess lying there motionless from the hands of Jarrett. It didn't help that it probably wouldn't have happened if Raven had been such a bastard and made her run off.

"I'm going to kill him." he growled.

"We all want to kill Jarrett, but this isn't the time or place." Ray advised.

"Yeah, at least let me win the title tonight first." Jay joked.

AJ glared at him.

"Sorry." Jay's smile fell into a frown.

"I wasn't talking about Jarrett." AJ stated, walking angrily over to where Tess was lying.

"Who were you talking about then?" Jeff asked, looking up from his place beside Tess.

"Raven." AJ's blue eyes turned dark.

"I don't mean to sound cruel or anything, but didn't he just do the same thing she did to him?" Jay asked.

AJ sent him another glare. "She wasn't that harsh."

"How do you know? You weren't listening. For all we know, she could have been. You know Raven, he can mask emotion well. So if she hurt him, we'd never know." Jay shrugged.

"So you're defending him now!" AJ exclaimed in outrage.

Jay stood in defense. "I'm just saying that he's just doing to her what she did to him. It was wrong, but not uncalled for. He's giving her a piece of her own medicine. There's no law against that."

AJ snapped and pushed Jay, too angry to care what he was doing.

"What the hell is wrong with you Jay? Your so called best friend is lying there unconscious, and all you care about is defending Raven!" AJ stepped forward angrily.

Jay's eyes narrowed. "Its not like I don't care that she's hurt. I've known her longer than you AJ. So I think I damn well care about her a bit more than you do. I'm just giving an opinion."

"Well take it somewhere else."

"Why don't you take your anger somewhere else AJ." Terry stepped in front of the man before Jay could hit him out of rage.

"Fuck off Terry." AJ cursed.

Terry's face changed from concern to a frown. "AJ, I'm not going to ask again. You'll see her before your match. Now go." He pointed at the door.

AJ glared at him before storming out of the room.

"That guy needs to get his head checked. He's completely mental." Jay sighed, sitting back down.

"He's just jealous." Jeff shrugged.

"What?" the other four looked at him in confusion.

"Oh come on." Jeff rolled his eyes. "Am I the only one who sees the looks he gives her?"

"Apparently." Devon nodded. "Seriously though? You think he's jealous he can't have her."

"Maybe not that. But he likes her. He cares a lot about her. But not in the friend way. More than that. So don't take what he says to heart." Jeff nodded.

"How do you know all of this?" Jay asked.

"Common sense Jay, something you have none of." Jeff smirked.

"That wasn't cool dude." Jay glared.

* * *

Later That Night

* * *

"Making his way to the ring, being accompanied by Coach Scott D'Amore, he is the X Division Champion, The Canadian Destroyer, Petey Williams!"

The usual cheering crowd booed loudly as their most hated X Division Champion walked out with a cocky smile on his face. As they walked towards the ring, D'Amore yelled in fan's faces, and even spat on one. The fans screamed in disgust, wanting for Christopher Daniels or anyone else to hurry up and kick their asses. The chants rose higher as the two entered the ring and grabbed a microphone.

"Oh shut your pathetic faces, you damn Americans. We don't want to hear your bloody chants!" D'Amore yelled into the mic.

The crowd booed even louder, if such a volume was even possible.

"Now onto the match. As most of you know, Christopher Daniels had an accident a few weeks ago and was unable to come to the PPV due to it. Now I don't want to brag, but me and Jeff did have a part in it." D'Amore paused as he smirked at the boos he was receiving. "Hurts that your savior isn't going to win the belt back doesn't it. Well I guess that means Petey here automatically wins. Play the music boys."

Music started, but not the Canadian Anthem.

"Now now D'Amore, don't get all hasty." Tess' voice came from the Face ramp. "You don't really think Chris would just let you walk away with the title did you? Oh no. See, although he is unable to be here tonight, he called in a replacement. Oh and not just any replacement. He's actually, the next man in line for that title of yours. You might even consider him _phenomenal_."

The crowd cheered, knowing who she was talking about. Meanwhile, Petey and D'Amore's faces paled considerably.

"Ladies and gentlemen, Boy and Girls. Give a big TNA Welcome to the one and only, The Phenomenal AJ Styles!"

The familiar music boomed through the arena as AJ stepped out, clad in his ring attire. He grinned at Tess before he ran down the ramp and slid into the ring. D'Amore immediately raced out, letting the bell to ring for the match to officially start.

* * *

"Your winner, and the new TNA X-Division Champion, AJ Styles!" Jeremy Borash announced.

Tess grinned as D'Amore and Petey fought angrily on the heel ramp. She slid into the ring and was met with a grinning AJ. The two embraced before she raised his arm in victory. The crowd cheered heavily as the belt was handed to AJ and he raised it above his head.

"What's the odds of us both winning titles tonight." He smirked as we left the ring.

"About one in a million. We apparently are loved by the man up above." She winked.

"Well I already knew that." AJ wrapped an arm around her shoulders as the descended down the tunnel, out of view of camera and the cheering fans.

"You're a cocky one." She nudged him.

"I know." He smirked.

Tess rolled her eyes as she pushed her self away from AJ's arm.

"Hey, that hurts." He pouted.

"Good." She grinned. "But I have to go see Chris. I promised him right after your match I'd head over to his place."

AJ's expression faltered slightly and grew darker. Tess though, held no notice to this factor.

"I'll see you later alright?" she looked at him.

He nodded.

"And I'm glad you won. Call me if Jay wins alright?"

"Will do." He agreed.

"Alright, byes." She raced off towards the women's locker room.

AJ sighed as he watched her go.

"Jealous are we?" BG James asked from behind him.

AJ twisted around and glared at him.

"Oh come on man, I saw that look. I'm not stupid you know." BG raised an eyebrow.

"Why would I be jealous?"

BG shrugged his shoulders and raised his hands in defense. "I was just saying that that face of yours looked like it wanted her."

"Whatever." AJ shot him one last glare before storming off in the other direction.

"Definitely jealous." BG muttered before too walking away.

Meanwhile, a snicker arose from the shadows. Petey Williams stood around the corner with a smirk plastered on his face. So his ex best friend like the woman he couldn't have. Now this, D'Amore would love to get his hands on. Split up their posse; drive her out of TNA; brilliancy right there.

* * *

"You heard what?" Scott raised an eyebrow as Petey came into Team Canada's room minutes later.

"Seems AJ likes little old McMahon." He smirked.

"How do you know this?" Scott questioned.

"I overheard him talking with BG. And that face of his was priceless. He definitely likes her."

"This is perfect." Scott's face grew dark.

"I don't get it." Eric stated confused.

Scott rolled his eyes and patted the man on the shoulder.

"See Eric, AJ likes McMahon. You know how jealousy works. Remember Petey with Traci? Think that only with AJ and McMahon. If we play inside their heads, it will break apart McMahon and Daniels, leaving her one man less. Slowly it'll break up the group. Which will eventually leave her vulnerable and friendless. Perfect for driving her out of the company."

"Oh." Eric scrunched up his face, trying to figure it out. Finally, a light bulb went off in the man's head. "Oh I get it." He grinned goofily.

Petey rolled his eyes. "Good job Eric. So you think we should tell Jeff about this?"

Scott thought for a moment. "No."

"What?" Petey asked confused.

"This is something I want to do. If we involve Jeff, he'll turn this into some elaborate plan that wont work out. Look at all of his other plans. Not one of them has worked out. But see we're Canadians, we have more brains. This is going to be our little secret. No one is going to know about it. Understand Eric." Scott gripped the man's shoulder, stressing the meaning.

Eric looked around. "Yeah."

"I mean this Eric. Keep this a secret."

His eyes fell downcast. "I will."

"Good." Scott grinned. "Now lets go celebrate."

"But we lost?" Petey looked at him like he was crazy.

"Oh, but we gained much more Petey."

* * *

A flickering light died in a hallway far into the back of the TNA arena. As a man walked by it, it grew pitch black dark. The man smirked and rolled his eyes at the falling apart building. But that didn't matter to him. Although it was a long shot coming back here, not much money, not to mention its an on the rise company; but he had a mission to complete. If anyone knew him, they knew this man didn't fall out of a promise. He promised to do this. And he would. He'd complete his mission, get his money, maybe even get the girl, and then leave. He wouldn't stick around after it was over. Just long enough to create havoc and get what's his. And neither would he be seen. He'd keep his appearance a secret until it was a must. Until then, he'd just be known as the mysterious savior of Tess McMahon. Nothing more, and most definitely nothing less.

* * *

**A/N: another pretty interesting chapter. **

**AJ apparently has a thing for Tess and he won the title**

**Team Canada has a new plan that their keeping within the team.**

**And what about the mystery man?**


	43. Chapter Forty Two

**Chapter Forty-Two:**

"So do we have a plan yet?" Petey looked over at his coach expectedly.

"We will soon." Scott assured. "It still needs some fine tuning."

"We better get it soon. If we want to start it right away, then we should start tomorrow at the tapings." Petey sighed.

"Petey, don't worry. Have I ever let you down?" he raised an eyebrow.

"No." he mumbled in a lie.

"Exactly. So give me the benefit of the doubt. Why don't you go train with the boys? Let me handle this alright?"

Petey hesitated but nodded slowly. "Yeah whatever."

"Good. Now go remind Eric to not tell anyone about the plan. I'm doubting his ability to keep this from Jeff." Scott sighed.

"He will Scott. You should give him the benefit of the doubt" he gave his coach a look before walking off.

"Yeah yeah." Scott muttered before going back to work on the 'plan.'

"So Scott, what are you hiding from dear old Jeff?" Alex Shelley's inquisitive voice came from behind the Canadian.

Scott jumped and turning quickly. His beady eyes widened, not knowing there was anyone listening in on their conversation. A bead of sweat fell down his face as he wringed his hands.

"Nothing." He stated.

"Really?" Alex patted the Shelley Cam. "Because I caught some interesting stuff on tape just now."

"How much did you hear?" Scott asked angrily.

"Everything." Alex smirked. "So, care to let me in on what's going on?"

"Nothing Alex. Go find someone to stalk for Jeff." He turned.

"Alright, then I guess you wont mind me handing this over to Jeff to see. I have to say though, he'd be mighty angry that his partner in crime is creating plans behind his back." Alex shrugged, still smirking.

Scott sighed. He knew what Alex was getting at. Bribery.

"What do you want Alex?" Scott turned back towards his former student.

Alex's smirk turned into a grin. "You let me know what's going on, and then let me help."

"And why would I let you do that?" he folded his arms.

Alex's eyes turned down to his camera. "Because I have something you don't. I can get you information you normally wouldn't be able to get."

"Why would you do this anyways? What's in it for you?" Scott looked at him skeptically.

"A new reason to cause havoc." Alex shrugged. "That, and I just love having a good reason to use this camera of mine."

Scott waited a moment to think this over. It was true. If Scott allowed Alex to participate, they would be able to get information much easier then without him. And if they let him in on it, Jeff wouldn't know.

"Alright. But if you let a word of this out to anyone, I swear, your going to wish you never walked into my school to get trained." Scott warned.

Alex lifted his hands and nodded. "Scouts honor Scott. I swear. So, about this plan?"

* * *

"Nice to see you again Tess. Have a fun night." Jay winked as Tess walked into their apartment Monday afternoon.

She blushed and gave him the finger.

"I'll take that as a yes. So, what did you do?" he pried, jumping over the arm of the couch so he could follow her into the kitchen.

"Nothing." She mumbled.

"Sorry what?" he smirked.

"Oh fuck off Jay." She threw an apple at him.

"Well that wasn't nice." He caught the apple and placed it back onto the counter. "So really, what did you and Chris do?"

"None of your business." She stated firmly, pushing Jay aside after getting a bottle of water.

"Well if you think about it, you are my best friend. So whatever happens to you tends to be my business." He said logically, walking into the living room with her.

"Your annoying." Tess rolled her eyes and hit him.

"I know." Jay smirked and pushed her back, making her fall onto the couch.

She glared at him before grabbing the remote for the TV and turning it on.

"So…" he mused, sitting beside her and eying her.

"So how about you go away." She stuck out her tongue.

"Is that the way you speak to the NWA World Heavyweight Champion?" he raised an eyebrow.

Tess dropped the remote in shock and turned to him.

"What? You won!"

"You didn't know?" Jay scratched his head in confusion.

"No." she shook her head. "AJ said he'd call me if you won. Oh my god! I can't believe you won!"

Jay mentally cursed AJ but threw on a grin nonetheless. "So will you tell me what happened last night?"

"No." she punched him in the arm before hugging him. "I can't believe it! Congrats! We so have to go celebrate."

"I already did that." He stated.

"Yeah, but now we have to go celebrate with me around. What is everyone doing tonight?" she asked, sitting back down in her seat.

Jay shrugged. "Don't know. We could probably round everyone up. Unless you and Mr. Daniels have another round planned for tonight." He winked.

She shoved him. "Shut up. Well what are you waiting for, go call everyone."

"Why do I have to?" he whined.

"Because I'm too lazy." She stuck out her tongue.

Jay rolled his eyes before getting up and heading into the kitchen to make the calls.

"So how did Jarrett react when you won?" Tess asked as he began calling Terry.

"Had a tantrum." Jay smirked. "Apparently he wasn't happy."

Tess laughed. "Good. I'm glad that guy finally fell off his mountain. Seems we just about rule the company."

"Pretty much. We just need to get Ray and Devon the tag belts and then we have them all." He agreed. "One sec."

Tess waited as Jay talked to Terry. She was too happy at the moment. They all won last night. They beat those bastards and got what they deserved. Sure, they didn't have the tag team belts. But knowing Ray and Devon as well as she did, she knew it wouldn't be long. They had more than enough talent to pull the job off in the near future.

* * *

"Why are you dragging me here again?" Chris asked as he wrapped his arms around her waist later that night as they walked towards the entrance of a local club they had all planned to meet at.

"Because." She stated. "You'd hate for me to go to a club where there are more than enough eligible men waiting for me."

Chris scowled. "I'm not letting you out of my sights tonight."

Tess laughed. "Good to know."

"Just hurry up." He pushed her through the door and into the crowded club. "Its going to take a miracle to find them."

"They're back there." Tess pointed with a smirk. Chris glared at her. "What? Its not my fault I know where they go every time we go to a club."

She chuckled as she took his hand and dragged him to near the back of the club where it was a bit more secluded.

"Hey guys." She greeted as she slid into a seat beside AJ.

"Find us easy enough?" Terry asked.

"Well he…" Tess looked at Chris. "Thought it was impossible. Me, I knew. I blame how well I know you."

Terry chuckled while Tess looked over at the near by pool table. Her eyes lit up as Ray and Devon groaned.

"Pool!" she jumped up. "Who wants to play?"

"No." both Ray and Devon said in unison.

She pouted. "Please."

"You beat us every time." Ray stated.

"You took pretty much half of our paycheck when we played with you when you were only 16." Devon nodded.

"Oh come on. It was your own fault for cockily putting that much money into it. Please. Just for fun?" she begged.

Chris looked like he was going to say something but Ray cut him off.

"Don't fall for it Chris. She'll have all your money by the end of the night."

"You guys are mean." She plopped back into her seat with a pout.

"No, we're just cautious." Devon smirked.

"But you could call us mean." Ray too smirked.

"I'll play you." AJ piped up.

Tess grinned and looked at him.

"Really?"

He nodded. "Sure. I wanna see what the big fuss is all about."

"Finally. Come one. Oh and you so totally rock." Tess grabbed his hand and dragged him over to the pool table.

Chris watched in amusement as he took a seat where Tess previously was.

"You better watch it Chris. If anything could win over her heart, its pool." Jeff stated with a small laugh.

"I'm not worried." He retorted.

Jay though, thought otherwise. He eyes watched AJ carefully. He just couldn't shake what Jeff had said yesterday about AJ liking her. He knew AJ was a good guy. But Tess didn't need her best friend crushing over her. She had Chris, and she was finally truly happy. And that's what Jay had missed about her. He loved seeing her smile. She was like a little sister to him. When she was happy, he was. He didn't want AJ screwing this up for her. Jay knew Chris meant a lot to her. And with how the meeting with her father went, he apparently approved Chris as well. So AJ had to get it through his head that she would never be his.

"You alright dude?" Ray asked Jay, noticing him eyeing the two playing pool.

"Yeah I'm good. Just waiting to see her kicking his ass." He faked a laugh.

"Yeah. Won't be long." He agreed, not noticing the change in him.

Jay nodded and kept a close look on the two. A small amount of anger swelled up in him as AJ put an arm around Tess, messing up her shot.

"You sure your okay Jay?" Jeff noticing the look he was giving AJ.

"Yeah." He nodded.

Jeff raised an eyebrow but let it go, knowing Jay too well to know that whatever it was, he didn't want to talk about it.

"So, anyone want rounds?"

* * *

**A/N: So now Alex Shelley is in on this 'plan' of Team Canada's. i wonder how well that's going to go.**

**oh and another sighting of our Mystery Man will be seen in the next chapter.**


	44. Chapter Forty Three

**Chapter Forty-Three:**

* * *

POV ON

* * *

"That wasn't fair. You only won because you cheated!" I whined.

"Tough luck T." AJ smirked.

I crossed my arms and stopped. "Your mean you know that."

"You know you adore me." he stated, pushing me along.

I rolled my eyes and muttered curses. "I doubt I do."

"Ouch, that hurt T." he mocked.

"Shut up." I pushed him. "Tell everyone I went to the bathroom."

AJ nodded as I slipped through the crowd. I inched through the many tables and standing around people before finally catching site of the dimly lit hallway to the bathroom. I raised my eyes for a minute, sensing the unclean environment, but shrugged my shoulders and walked through it anyways. I began to get a bit uneasy as it looked like the light was falling dimmer at every step, and apparently, the bathrooms liked to be hidden. I finally caught site of them down an adjacent hallway, but was again a bit hesitant. Although there was light, it was very minimal. And Although I was more than capable of handling myself, I still felt a bit uneasy at the lack of light. It was after reading all those stories in the newspapers of getting attacked in a darkened hallway that freaked me out a bit. And with my history in TNA so far, it wouldn't be past Jarrett and them to try something like that. Nonetheless, I took a deep breath and slowly walked down the new hallway. Thankfully, the women's bathroom was only halfway down the hall. The bad part, right after the door, it was pitch black. A lump arose in my throat as I quickened my pace and finally reached the door.

"You know going down darkened hallways all by yourself isn't something a broad such as yourself should be doing." The voice of Alex Shelley came from behind me in the shadows.

I immediately turned around, removing my hand from the door. I peered into the dark to try to figure out where exactly he was. But unfortunately, I couldn't.

"Especially when there's more than a few people out there that want you gone." He took a step towards the minimal light, outlining his body.

"Is that a threat Shelley?" I asked, folding my arms and glaring at the body.

"Just a warning that you shouldn't be walking around alone." He defended, now walking into the light, which happened to be less than a foot from me.

"I still find that a threat." I stated, moving back so my back hit the wall, trying to gain distance between us.

Though just to my luck, Alex too took a step forward.

"Treat it however you want." His hand came up and moved away a piece of hair that was in my eyes. "But I was just trying to warn you. Might want to take it seriously too. Unless you enjoy getting the hell kicked out of you?"

"Oh yeah, I go to work just for Jarrett to make my life a living hell. So smart Shelley." I rolled my eyes and tried to walk away, though heading out of the hallway and towards the main one.

Before I could though, Alex grabbed my arm and pinned me back against the wall.

"Doubting my intelligence? That isn't exactly nice Tess." He smirked.

"That's McMahon to you." I sneered, repulsed by him calling me by my first name, which I reserved for those that were not jackasses.

"I tend to like Tess a lot better." He stated.

"Yeah well, I tend to really not like you. So get the hell away from me." I shot at him in force.

Alex's smirk grew larger as on of his hands began to trail down my arm, creating a shiver up my spine.

"Don't touch me." I spat, trying to push his hand away, but couldn't as he grabbed it and pinned it to the wall.

"Aw, I'm not like Jarrett." He winked. "I don't hurt those who are drop dead gorgeous."

"Fuck off." I glared.

"Someone should teach you some manners." He smirked.

"And someone should teach you to not be such a prick."

"Now now. Play nice." Alex's eyes shined. "I'm not here to cause trouble. I just wanted to inform you on some issues."

"Really? Because it seems you just want to bug the hell out of me." I rolled my eyes. "Just hurry it up before I kick you."

He raised an eyebrow out of amusement and let his hand move from my arm and to my neck. I tensed as he slid his thumb softly up and down the side of it.

"Patience is a virtue. You should learn that. But I'll tell you anyways." He shrugged, looking at me intently.

"So…"

He smirked. "Just watch out for someone close to you. They might have more then just friendship in mind."

"What the hell are you talking about?" I asked confused.

His smirk grew larger as he traced my jaw. "You'll find out soon enough."

"Alright good. You said what you had to say. Now get the hell away from me." I told him angrily, though still trying to figure out the meaning of what he said.

"See now that I'm in your presence, I see why Petey always wanted to be the one who attacked you. You are mighty hot." He winked.

I tried to push him away from me, not liking the look in his eyes. But unfortunately, he grabbed onto my other arm and pinned it to the wall as well. I contemplated about kicking him in the groin, but before I got too much into the thought, Alex was pulled back and thrown into the complete darkness beside me. I raised an eyebrow as I kept at the wall. I couldn't see anyone else, though that probably due to the little light and my bad eye sense. But I was still a bit freaked. Usually those who help show themselves.

"Why do I suddenly feel like this is some really bad designed horror flick and I'm now the last one to get killed by the freaky monster dude?" I muttered to myself, my eyes prying into the darkness.

"I take that as an insult." An unfamiliar voice stated from the darkness.

My head snapped to where the voice came from, yet I wasn't able to see anyone.

"Where are you?" I asked. "Who are you?"

Whoever it was, stepped out of the shadows and into a small part of the light, allowing for me to see that it appeared to be the same man who helped me at Against All Odds.

"Who are you?" I repeated.

"You'll find out soon. Go do what you wanted. No one else will bug you." He nodded at the bathroom door.

I stood there, not moving. Or I was too scared to move. I didn't exactly feel safe in darkened hallways. And I didn't have any clue who this was. Push comes to shove; I wasn't about to stay here much longer.

"I wont hurt you. And neither will anyone else. Go." He insisted.

I hesitantly looked at the door than back at him. I was caught between trusting his word, and just plainly leaving.

"Where's Alex?" I asked.

"He's fine if that's what you mean. He just will be unconscious for a few minutes." He assured. "Go ahead."

I sighed and finally decided to just go in, sensing that even if he were lying, I'd be prepared for him. I nodded slowly before slipping into the room, and finally into bright light.

* * *

"I shouldn't have left you out of my sight." Chris rubbed his temple later that night when he brought me back to his apartment.

"I'm fine Chris." I sighed. "Can we just move past it?"

"It wasn't Alex I was worried about. You would have kicked his ass if he tried too much. It was whoever that mystery guy was that I'm worried about." He stated, sitting on the couch in the living room.

I sighed again before sitting beside him and looking at him. "Whoever it is Chris, he doesn't appear too dangerous to me. Twice now he's helped me."

"Yeah, but its always those types that turn out to be working against you." He said stated seriously.

"Then we'll worry about that when it happens." I put a hand on his shoulder. "For now, lets just worry about other things. Such as why no one has mentioned anything about my birthday tomorrow."

Chris smirked. "I thought you didn't want anything for it. You said, and I quote 'I don't want anyone to make a big deal out of it. I hate birthdays.'."

I pushed him playfully. "Shut up. I still feel that way, but usually people don't listen and still do stuff. So far, it's only about an hour from it being officially my 22nd birthday, and nothing. I'm starting to think no one remembered." A slight frown fell on my face at the thought.

"Don't worry. No one's forgotten." Chris assured, taking the hand that was on his shoulder. "How about we go celebrate early."

"You just wanna have sex." I rolled my eyes.

"True. Come on, you know you had fun doing it last night." He poked me in the ribs.

"True." I poked him back. "But I'm tired, I don't feel like it."

"You take away all my fun." He pouted.

I rolled my eyes. "Good."

"Ha ha Tess." He stood and pulled me up in front of him.

"What?" I asked.

"We might as well just go to bed if you don't wanna do anything fun." He shrugged.

"Good idea." I yawned. "Between pool, clubbing with everyone, Alex and his weirdness, and whoever that mystery guy is, I'm pooped."

"Come on." He pulled me towards his bedroom.

I smiled before letting him pull me in and close the door.

"I don't ever get why people who live alone close their bedroom doors." I stated randomly.

Chris looked at me oddly. "That was random."

"I know. But seriously, why do you do it?" I asked, actually intrigued.

Chris shrugged and led me to the bed. "Habit I guess."

"Oh." I plopped onto the bed. "I never noticed it last night, but you have a comfortable bed."

He rolled his eyes. "Why I love you is beyond me. Your too weird."

"I know." I grinned. "But that's what makes life interesting. You'd be living one boring life without me you know."

"A normal life though." He smirked, nudging me over.

I groaned but did so as he slid onto it beside me.

"You know you would hate a life without me." I poked him.

"I'm not so sure about that." He teased, grabbing my wrist.

"Your not a very nice person." I stated.

"You love me for it." He muttered before bending over me and capturing my lips.

"I thought I said no sex." I moved my head to the side and smirked.

"I was kissing you, not preparing for sex." He whined.

"That was how it started last night." I rolled my eyes.

"So I cant kiss you anymore?"

"Nope." I stuck out my tongue at him.

"I was never one to follow rules." He smirked before swooping down again and taking my lips in his.

* * *

**A/N: ooooo, so the mystery man shows up again, saving the day. **

**seems that whatever this 'plan' is, its already beginning to start.**


	45. Chapter Forty Four

**Chapter Forty-Four:**

"Tess? Why the hell are you up? It's five in the morning" Chris moaned, walking into his kitchen early the next morning.

I looked up from where I was staring into space and grinned.

"I'm 22." I jumped off the chair excitedly.

"And you'd be 22 at nine or ten too." He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and glared at me.

"I know." I walked over to him and gave him a quick kiss. "But I couldn't sleep."

"Well let's try again." He tried pulling me back to the bedroom.

"I don't wanna." I pulled him back with a pout. "But I do have a great idea."

"Whatever it is no." he groaned and closed his eyes tightly.

"But…" I started.

"No. I'm tired. You're tired…"

"I'm not tired." I interrupted. "Actually, I'm wide awake. And now I have a brilliant idea. According to the TV, the sun rises at 6:50, meaning we can so see it. That'll be cool."

"Then lets wake up then." He sighed.

"But…" I pouted and gave him the best puppy dogface I could manage. "I had the idea that we could have a romantic breakfast while it rises."

Once again he groaned and shook his head.

"Please?" I begged. "It is my birthday you know."

"You said you didn't want us to do anything. So I'm not." He stated.

"Please." I traced a finger down his bare chest.

"No." he pushed my finger away.

I pouted. "Fine."

I walked back into the bedroom and lied on the bed once more, my back facing Chris.

"Oh come on Tess." He sighed. "It's probably freezing out there at this time."

"Its Orlando, it's never freezing." I retorted.

"Alright so that's true. But…"he trailed off, trying to think. Finally he sighed deeply. "Fine."

"No. Its fine. Lets just go back to sleep." I pretended to go back to sleep.

"You're a lousy pretender Tess." I heard him walk to my side of the bed and kneel down so he was eyelevel. "Come on, open those beautiful eyes I love so much."

I gave out a small laugh as I opened them, my blue orbs looking into his brown ones.

"How about I go make us that 'romantic' breakfast and you sleep for a bit. I'll wake you up closer to when the sun is supposedly rising. Alright?"

"You sure?" a grin formed on my face.

He nodded.

"Yes! My manipulation so works!" I grinned as he began to walk out of the bedroom.

I caught sight of him rolling his eyes before closing the door.

* * *

"Wow. You did all this for me?" I gushed at seeing his balcony outside.

Chris nodded with a smile. "Well you did manipulate me into doing it."

I rolled my eyes and opened the door so I can step out into the early morning air. I took in what Chris had done in the amount of time. The small patio table had a tablecloth folded over it, with two candles lit. On either side of the table were plates and utensils, anything you would need for an early breakfast. In the middle was a huge plate of my absolute favourite breakfast material.

"Pancakes." I grinned and turned to him. "You remembered I love pancakes."

"Of course, you demanded to have them that one time we were training in the gym and you sort of passed out for two seconds because you hadn't eaten for a bit." He smirked.

"Thanks for the memory return." I pushed him before looking at the dark blue sky.

"Sit." He pushed me softly towards the table.

I nodded and slid into one of the chairs set out. I watched as Chris grabbed a bottle of wine and two glasses before closing the door.

"Alcohol in the morning." I mused with a smile. "I like your thinking."

"Yeah well, if I'm going to have to endear being up this morning I need alcohol." He smirked before finishing up pouring some wine into the glasses and sat down.

"This is really nice of you. You could have just done something simple. But you didn't." I smiled and looked down.

"You surprise yourself when you're in live." He said seriously.

"I guess so." I looked up at him before shivering slightly.

"Cold?" he asked.

"A bit." I nodded.

"Come here." He motioned.

I raised an eyebrow but slid out of the chair and over to him. He moved his chair back a bit before wrapping an arm around my waist and brought me down so I was sitting in his lap. He then wrapped both arms around me, sending his body warmth into me.

"Well this is comfortable." I grinned.

"For you. I think we should do more training. Your heavy."

I hit him. "That's not nice. Now I think I'm fat."

"You know I'm just kidding. Your anything but fat Tess." He kissed my neck.

"That's true. I work hard on this body." I started proudly.

"And I definitely love it." He smirked.

"Shut up." I blushed, remembering Sunday night.

"Your beautiful when you're embarrassed." He mused.

"I know." My blushing ceased and I smirked.

"Your too cocky." He rolled his eyes.

"I know." I continued to smirk. "Oh look."

Chris looked to where I was pointing and raised an eyebrow. "Wow?"

"Oh come on, tell me that isn't beautiful." I looked at the sky which had etches of a lighter blue and some pink now apparent.

"I find you more beautiful."

I rolled my eyes and looked over at him. "You really annoy me."

"I know. Just go back to your watching. Its what you wanted." He urged.

I shrugged my shoulders and did so, not wanting to miss anything. About five minutes into watching nothing, I yawned and let my head fall on Chris' shoulder. Another five minutes and my eyes felt heavy and began to drop. Before they officially did though, I felt a kiss on my forehead and Chris' arms tighten around my frame. A smile fell on my face as darkness took over, sending me into the land of dreams.

* * *

"So let me get this straight. She wanted all of that done at five in the morning, and you did it. And then when you two were out there, after ten minutes she fell asleep? And yet you still stayed out there until the sun was blaring? I'm sorry to say this guys, but I think we lost Chris to love." Jay's amused voice came through the door as my eyes slowly drew open.

I moaned as I rubbed my eyes and looked at the clock. 1:00 pm. I groaned now, knowing I fell asleep during what I wanted to see. I mentally hit myself but smiled anyways from what Jay had just apparently said.

"Shut up Jay. Don't make fun of the guy. You'd do the same thing if it was you and your woman." Ray stated.

"Except he doesn't have a woman." Devon laughed.

I raised an eyebrow and stifled a laugh as I slid out of bed. I slowly drew in a sigh as I walked towards the door and opened it. As I stepped out of the room, all eyes fell on me.

"What are you guys doing here?" I asked as I lazily walked out and into the kitchen where the gang was, plus for once, Carrie.

"We came over knowing you were here." Jay shrugged.

Jeff punched him in the arm. "We actually wanted to say happy birthday but we didn't know when we'd see you today so we decided to come over here to tell you."

"Thanks guys." I smiled, walking over to Chris and wrapping my arms around him, laying my head on his chest.

"I'm not a pillow." He rolled his eyes.

"But your more comfortable than one." I pointed out with a smirk.

"Please stop, you're making me sick." Jay joked.

"Someone hit him for me." I stated.

Terry smirked and hit Jay over the head.

"Ow." He glared at him and rubbed the back of his head. "That hurt."

"Good."

I chuckled at his expression before noticing that someone was in fact missing.

"Where's AJ?" I asked confused, and slightly hurt that the man wasn't here.

"Oh him." Jay's eyes narrowed. "We don't know where he is."

Jeff rolled his eyes. "Actually we do. He said he had to take a quick stop off at the store before heading over here. Oh and he has a change of clothes for you too."

"Good. I'm feeling dirty in these." I looked down at the outfit I had on last night.

"Well I would too if I had sex with those on." Jay scrunched up his nose.

Without me even asking for assistance, Ray and Devon both hit Jay over the head at the same time.

"Now that hurt!" Jay growled.

"Probably not enough though." Terry hit him again.

Jay grumbled and walked towards the living room and sat down, arms crossed and everything. I rolled my eyes before looking at Carrie.

"Hey Carrie, remember our birthday tradition?" I asked her.

She grinned. "Of course. We've been doing it since we were 13. You up for it?"

"Of course. It's a tradition isn't it?" I grinned as well.

"What tradition?" Chris asked, looking down at me.

"They go shopping every year." Jeff rolled his eyes. "Don't see what the big deal is."

"See though, its not just normal shopping…" I started with a smirk.

"Oh no, we just happen to have copies of our dad's credit cards." Carrie finished.

Jeff raised an eyebrow. "So you're stealing from your fathers now?"

"Kinda. But see when they end up finding out, they let it go as it is our birthday." I replied.

"Well aren't you spoiled." Chris rolled his eyes.

I nudged him. "No, just really good at getting what I want. Pretty good trait if you ask me."

He chuckled and poked me.

"What was that for." I frowned and rubbed my side.

"To get you off of me." he smirked.

I stepped back and stuck out my tongue at him. "Fine, no more sex for you then."

Chris' face pale and he shook his head. "No no, come back. You can use me as a pillow whenever you want."

"Damn you've gotten him trained." Ray laughed.

"Shut up." Chris glared at him while I laughed.

"Well he is kinda right there Chris." I poked him, still laughing.

Chris narrowed his eyes down at me, causing me to smile innocently.

"Chris, someone's knocking at your door." Jay called.

"You could get it." Chris shot at him.

"Hey man, it's your house." He smirked over at him.

I rolled my eyes and took the liberty of going to open the front door myself. As I walked past the couch, I quickly hit Jay over the head before finishing the short distance to the door. As soon as I threw the door open, I was bombarded with a tight embrace.

"Nice to see you too AJ." I rolled my eyes. "Now the birthday girl needs to breath."

"Ha sorry." He grinned as he stepped back and looked down at me. "Happy birthday!"

"Thanks." I smiled. "What took you so long? And please god tell me you have clothes for me."

AJ nodded and fished out a shirt and pants from the bag he was holding. I grinned and snatched them from him.

"Thank god." I raced into the bedroom.

* * *

"Remember in tenth grade, Ian Falls." Carrie laughed as we walked arm in arm through the crowded mall after two hours of shopping already.

I chuckled. "How could I forget? 'Whoa, his eyes are like water!'… Priceless moment."

"You definitely were weird back then." She pushed me.

I pushed her back. "Nothings changed then."

"Definitely true." Carrie grinned.

I rolled my eyes before spotting something that made my eyes widen.

"Oh my god." I stopped in my tracks.

"What?" Carrie stopped as well and looked at me, clearly confused.

"Is that…"I pointed to across the good court."

Carrie followed my finger and grinned.

"Now I wonder what Mr. Cena and Mr. Orton are doing all the way out here in Orlando." Carrie looked back at me.

My face soon turned into a grin as I grabbed her by the hand and raced towards them. With their backs to us, it was easy enough to scare the living hell out of both men.

"Holy fuck!" John cursed before turning around but was met with a slap over the head. "Tess, hey what are you doing here? And stop hitting me. It hurts."

I rolled my eyes and hit Randy next. "Me? What the hell are you two doing here?"

John and Randy exchanged a grin. "Decided to take a little road trip with some people to come see ya on your b-day." John answered.

I raised an eyebrow. "Some people?"

"Oh you know, no one you'd be interested in." Randy waved it off with a smirk. "Just a Trish Stratus, a Matt Hardy, oh and I think a Chris Benoit also came."

My eyes widened. "No way!"

John shrugged. "Okay."

I gave him a glare before looking around wildly. "Where are they?"

"Whoa, calm down before you give yourself a whip lash T." Randy chuckled. "And they were following behind us when we drove here last night, but we lost them."

"I called them an hour ago and they said they went to the apartment that you Jeff and Jay share. So we just came here." John nodded before looking Carrie up and down. "Have you gotten hotter Care?"

Carrie rolled her eyes and slapped him over his head. John pouted at her, causing her to glare at him and turn away. Randy looked over at me and we both broke out in laughter. It was a very known fact that John has had a thing for Miss Carrie Flair for quite some time now. Three years to be exact. Carrie hated it. She liked the guy well enough, but just not in that way. Good old John just couldn't let that fact reach the heart of his brain. Which doesn't surprise anyone, as nothing rarely does.

"John, the day she likes you is the day the world ends." I rolled my eyes and pushed him away from Carrie.

"Well it just so happens that the weather station said the sky was falling this afternoon. Care to have some last minute sex Carrie?" John grinned and inched his way back towards her.

Carrie shot me a look and I nodded.

"So, you all came down for my birthday then?" I changed the subject

"Do you really think I'd let John drive here from Boston for no reason. I swear, we need to take his license away. He can't drive." Randy shook his head with a smirk.

"Hey! I'm a great driver thank you very much Orton." John glared at him.

"Okay then Johnny, what drugs are you taking?" Randy rolled his eyes.

"The kind your mom gave me after we finished the other night." John smirked.

Randy's face fell into horror. "Dude, don't do that. That's just wrong."

I chuckled. "Are you two done yet?"

"Not yet." John shook his head and paused for a moment. "Now we're done."

"Men." Carrie muttered with an eye roll.

"You know you love us Carrie." Randy grinned.

"I doubt that." I put an arm around Carrie. "Right Carrie."

"Damn straight." She smirked.

"That hurts deeply." John mocked.

"Good." Carrie rolled her eyes again. "So since you all came all this way for Tess, shall we go back to her place to see the others. God knows I need someone sane around."

I grinned. "Great idea C. but you do know none of us are sane. I'm sure Chris has been ruined because of these two."

"Probably." Carrie laughed.

"Hey!" Randy and John said in unison.

"Oops, sorry, did I offend you?" I smirked.

"Yes. John's the bad one. Not me." Randy defended.

"Yeah okay there Orton." John pushed Randy. "You keep dreaming."

"Nah, I'd rather dream about some hot chic in my bed, with us having wild and passionate…"

"Oh god, please don't go any further." I groaned. "I don't need visuals."

Randy grinned and wrapped an arm around my shoulder. "Sure you do. Now, so more about this dream of mine…"

* * *

**A/N: finally. didn't mean to take so long. writers cramp i guess.**

**so usually i don't like John Cena and Randy Orton, but i decided to be nice for once and use them in the story again. **

**awww, isn't Chris just nice and sweet? who would have though the cold hearted man from earlier was really so sweet.**


	46. Chapter Forty Five

**Chapter Forty-Five:**

"Will you stop that John!" I rolled my eyes as John made me drop my key to the apartment.

"I'm just excited." He shrugged.

"Why?" Carrie looked at him oddly.

"Because I get to grill this Chris guy." He grinned like a little kid.

I spun around from the door to John with a serious look plastered on my face.

"Don't even think about it John. I'm serious."

John's hands flew up in defense. "Hey, I'm just making sure he isn't in it for the sex."

"Well considering we've already done it, I'm pretty sure he isn't." I glared.

Randy smirked behind John. "So, you two have done it? How was it?"

"Okay seriously, lets just go in." Carrie grabbed the key from my hand and dug it into the keyhole.

"Someone uncomfortable?" I raised an eyebrow and laughed.

"Ha ha." Carrie glared before opening the door.

"Alright where is he?" John pushed Carrie and I away and entered the apartment.

I immediately grabbed him back into the hallway. "John, what did we jut talk about?"

"What? Come on Tess, people refer to me like pets. I'm good at sensing bad from good." He nodded.

I rolled my eyes. "I doubt that. Please John?"

His mouth shut finally and he nodded.

"Thank you. Now hurry up and get in there, they probably think your more crazy then usual." I pushed him back through the door.

"Bloody woman." He mumbled as he stumbled into the room.

I smirked as I ushered Randy and Carrie in as well before entering myself. As I did, I noticed the gang standing around talking to the three occupants I was ecstatic to see.

"So who wants to see me first?" I walked into the living room.

I was literally tackled to the ground by the closest person near me. Trish.

"Trish, I love ya, I really do. But this looks a bit wrong." I laughed as I looked at my second best female friend in the world.

"Oh right. Sorry Tess." She blushed and got up off of me.

I chuckled and took her outstretched hand and stood. "No harm done. Well except to my back. Damn you hurt girl."

"Thanks." She smiled. "It's been forever."

"Try like a few weeks. I did just see you, you know." I rolled my eyes.

"Well yeah. But come on Tess, I'm me." she laughed.

"That's definitely true. So how have you been?" I asked.

"Great." Her smile turned into a grin.

"Why are you so happy?" I eyed her carefully, sensing more happiness then what should be expected.

"Can't I be happy to see my best friend?"

"Not this happy. Spill it, what happened?" I pestered, knowing instantly something was up.

Her face flushed. "Nothing."

"Don't mind her, she's just been happy ever since she and Rob starting going out." Matt explained, walking over and giving me a hug.

I hugged him back before looking at Trish in shock.

"Since when?"

"A few days after we left Orlando." She mumbled.

I grinned. "This is amazing! I always knew you and Mr. RVD would be perfect for one another. Aren't I just always right?"

I heard John cough from beside Jay. I glared at him before continuing.

"This is awesome. So, you two serious?" I asked, wanting to know all the details.

She nodded slowly. "I think so."

"This is great! Oh I'm so happy for you!" I hugged her.

She laughed, her face still completely flushed.

"Thanks." She mumbled.

As I pulled apart I saw everyone watching us like we were crazy.

"What?" I asked looking around confused.

"Sorry Benny, it appeared all those hits to the head made her forget all about you." John clapped Chris Benoit's shoulder.

Benoit hit John's hand away before rolling his eyes and walking over.

"Hey Chris." I hugged him tightly.

"Hey back at you sweetie. Happy birthday." He smiled down at me.

I returned the smile, happy to see the man who was like a second father to me.

"Thanks for coming. I'm glad you all came."

"Well we couldn't let you celebrate another year with your friends you know." Matt stated.

Jay coughed.

"Well, your other friends anyways." Matt smirked.

"Adam didn't come I see." I commented.

"Yeah well, the bastard…I mean he was a bit busy. Probably stealing his other friends girls." Matt replied darkly.

I raised an eyebrow, remembering the past between Matt and Adam.

"Okay then. Well if anyone else except Matt sees Adam, hit him on the head for me."

"Will do." Randy cracked his knuckles.

"Without damaging him." I told him pointedly.

He pouted. "That's no fun though."

"Tough luck." I stuck out my tongue.

"Well I feel glad I know absolutely no one here." AJ muttered from over by the kitchen.

"I only wish I were you AJ." I sighed and moved my way through everyone until I found him and Chris talking. "And technically you do know people here." I hit him over the head."

"Yeah, what are we?" Jay shouted over.

"Nothing." He threw back.

I rolled my eyes as I kissed Chris quickly.

"I feel like I haven't seen you in ages." I wrapped my arms around him.

Chris raised an eyebrow. "You really need to cut down on the exaggeration."

"But its so much fun." I pouted.

"And so annoying." He rolled his eyes but put his arms around me too.

"Oh god, a lovers fest." John groaned. "We got enough of it from Trish and Rob, now we have to endear this. My god, will it never end?"

"Oh shut up John. Your just jealous." I smirked at him.

"Hell no!"

"Uh huh." I rolled my eyes.

John glared at me before Carrie interrupted us all.

"Sorry to ruin this beautiful reunion, but there's only about an hour, hour and a half until the tapings start." Carrie informed.

I groaned. "I forgot I had to work on my birthday."

"Yeah and knowing your history, you're not gonna have the best night." AJ joked.

"Ha ha AJ." I glared at him.

"Just kidding T." he raised his hands in defense.

I rolled my eyes and looked at Chris. "Your not coming."

"Yes I am. Like hell am I going to let you go there by yourself. Last time I wasn't there you got knocked out by Jarrett. I'm not going to just sit here and let that bastard hurt you." He stated.

"I'll be fine. I mean as long as I don't get mad, I wont run off." I assured him.

Chris shook his head. "I'm going Tess. Just humor me on this."

I frowned but nodded, knowing he was only being the good guy in all of this.

"So do we really have to go?"

"Unfortunately." Terry nodded, stopping his conversation with Benoit. "Zbyszko would kill us if we don't show up."

I sighed but nodded. "This sucks."

"Don't we know it." Jay nodded. "Come on, we might as well get our stuff."

I nodded and peeled myself away from Chris and followed Jay into the back of the apartment, where our rooms were. We quickly parted as he went left and I went right, practically walked straight into my room. I quickly searched for my duffel bag. I found it lying by my desk and grabbed it. I fished through my closet and found two all right enough ring attires and threw them into the bag, along with a change of clothes for afterwards. Once the clothes were in, I found my brass knucks on my dresser and threw them into the bag as well before heading back into the hall. After meeting back up with Jay, we walked into the populated living room.

"So we're all hanging afterwards right?" I asked everyone.

"Count on it." Matt nodded.

"I'm taking everyone out to dinner. Birthday treat." Benoit stated.

I smiled. "Sweet."

"Good thing you are, we know John here would never be able to afford it." Randy clapped John on the back.

"I could so!" John glared.

"Okay then." Randy rolled his eyes.

I chuckled as Chris walked over and took my bag from me.

"So we'll see you all later then. Jeff, keep them in line will ya." I winked at Jeff.

"That might be hard, with John and Randy and all." Jeff smirked.

"Well you have Matt and Chris as back up." I laughed.

"Still don't think that will help him much TM." Jay chuckled.

"That's true." I smiled. "But I guess we have to go."

"We'll catch up with you guys at the arena." Ray and Devon stated along with terry. "We still have to get our stuff.

"I guess I should do that too." AJ scratched the back of his head. "Stupid job."

I raised an eyebrow before looking around at everyone. It was amazing how they came all the way down here just for me. I guess it shows that although I'm not in the same company as them anymore, they still care. True friends I suppose.

* * *

**A/N: not the most exciting chapter, but a chapter none the less. but thankfully, lets just say i figured out an amazing storyline to go into. gotta love weekends where you can lie in bed for hours and think. so expect a complete twist in the story shortly. it'll definitely shock you.**


	47. Chapter Forty Six

**Chapter Forty-Six:**

"So I'm completely bored." I sighed as I walked with AJ towards the ramp for our tag team match against Jarrett and Gail.

"Well you wont be soon I guarantee you that." AJ smirked.

I rolled my eyes.

"So having a good birthday so far?" he asked.

"Other than having to face Jarrett and Gail on the first taping and then face Traci for the title on the second, it's going great." I nodded with a sigh.

"You'll win. You always. Do." AJ sent me an encouraging smile.

"Yeah I guess." I agreed. "Its not the same though."

"What's not?" her asked confused.

"Having you as my partner."

"Oh." He frowned.

"Not that you're not great. But after be so used to it being Chris, its weird." I stated, trying to not offend him.

"I get it." He nodded slowly, yet I could tell he was hurt.

I sighed. "Sorry. I shouldn't have said anything."

"No it's always. I get it." He shrugged. "Its fine don't worry about it."

I nodded, but felt worse for being heartless.

"Well we're here." AJ commented, looking over at me. "You ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be. Lets go."

* * *

"Come on AJ!" I jumped on the tip of my toes, slapping the ring post with a hand.

I watched in anger as Jarrett laughed and continued to kick the fallen AJ. I eventually dove over the ropes and onto Jarrett, forcing him to the ground. I quickly got off him and gave him a springboard moonsault from the ropes onto him. Before I could do anything else though, the ref ushered me back to behind the ropes. I growled and stood there hopeless as AJ tried for a pin.

"1…2…" the ref began to count but stopped once Jarrett raised a shoulder.

"Fuck." I swore and began clapping my hands, hoping AJ would hurry up and tag me in.

He didn't though. He slowly drew himself up but was knocked back down by Jarrett. I was mentally killing AJ for not tagging me in at the chance. I watched as Jarrett beat on him, Gail just laughing in her corner with AMW making fun from down below. I wished for a miracle to happen, stopping Jarrett from his attacks on AJ. As if god could literally hear me, a miracle did happen. Yet not in the way I had hoped. The lights flew off, just like it had done Sunday night at the PPV. I rushed threw the ropes, going to where I knew AJ was lying. I rounded him out of his daze and helped him site up.

"You think it's the mystery man?" AJ asked while I helped him up.

"I don't know." I shrugged. "Sounds like it thought."

We listened as the sound of someone being knocked down entered the atmosphere. The crowd began cheering as the lights flew on. Though unlike Sunday night, there was no one in the ring when it happened. My eyes flew everywhere, trying to find the mystery man. I eventually found him in the middle of the audience, walking towards the back, his back facing me. I eyed him confused before noticing AJ covering the fallen and unconscious Jarrett. I looked around the ring and saw that AMW and Gail had all been taken out, by what I presumed to be a chair as one was lying in the ring.

"Your winners, the TNA Women's' Champion, Tess McMahon, and The X Division Champion, AJ Styles!"

The crowd roared as my eyes fell on not AJ in happiness, but yet a small slip of paper in the ring, the exact middle. I raised an eyebrow as I walked slowly over to it. I knelt down, and with shaky hands, I grabbed the piece of paper. I unfolded the pure white slip and looked down at it in confusion. Written on the slip in a bold black marker was the letter 'C'.

* * *

"This is annoying the hell out of me!" I exclaimed as I threw the piece of paper onto the ground later while in the locker room a bunch of the guys shared.

Chris wrapped his arms around me from behind and kissed my neck, trying to comfort me.

"What do you think this is supposed to mean?" Terry asked, picking up the paper and looking at the content intently.

"Beginning of a message?" Jay offered.

"Or initials?" Ray suggested.

"It could mean anything." I sighed.

"We'll figure it out don't worry babe." Chris assured with another kiss.

"It's just driving me crazy." I rubbed my temples before looking at the time. "I have to get going. My match is in 10 minutes."

"Want me to accompany you?" AJ asked.

I shook my head no.

"You should babe." Chris encouraged. "You know Traci will have Matt out there."

"I don't have to worry about Matt. He's not like Jarrett." I assured the two. "And I already know if something happens our mystery man will be out there to save the day."

"She has a point." Jay nodded.

Chris glared at him before nodding as well. "Alright, but I'm walking you to the tunnel at least."

"Fine." I sighed, though I didn't object, knowing I wanted him with me anyways. "See you guys soon."

The guys nodded as Chris and I left the room and started down the hall.

"You alright Tess?" Chris asked, noticing my dazed look.

"I'm okay I guess. I just I wished I knew who it was." I shrugged.

"I know. We all want to know. He has to show himself at some point. We'll just have to be patient until then."

"Easy for you to say. I'm not a patient one." I stated.

"Well that's true." He smirked.

I smiled and nudged him as we reached the entrance to the tunnel.

"Well I guess I'll see you soon." I stepped up and kissed him before stepping back.

Chris though pulled me back in, planting another kiss on my lips before softly pushing me up the tunnel ramp. I sighed before walking up it, my music now blaring through the arena.

"Making her way to the ring as the TNA Women's Champion, hailing from Stamford Connecticut, Tess McMahon!"

I quickly posed at the top of the stage before running down the ramp and sliding gracefully into the ring. I smirked and rose to my feet, eyeing Traci and Matt on the other side of the ring. I simply walked past them and climbed up onto a turnbuckle, facing the cameras and the fans. I lifted my belt up, taking in the large amount of cheers coming my way. One thing I always loved about this job here in TNA was its fans. They were beyond loyal to the company. Once you were a fan, you were always a fan.

* * *

I drew in a deep breath as I gained a composer on top of the turnbuckle and flew off into a 630 splash onto Traci's form below. I grinned as I covered her quickly, ignoring the small shoots of pain in my body as well as the chants from the crowd.

"1…2…3" The ref counted.

I jumped off Traci immediately, grabbing my title from the side of the ring and raising it high into the air. I grinned as the fans were on their feet, chanting my name crazily. My celebration though, was cut short as a guitar hit me from behind. I grunted as my body fell forward to the mat. I laid there, clenching my teeth tightly and holding onto my title as if my life depended on it.

"Come on McMahon, get up." Jarrett mocked from behind.

I felt the back of my head, feeling a few spurts of bloody through my bundle of hair. I cursed as I slowly stood up and turning towards Jarrett angrily. He smirked at me as he threw down his broken guitar and grabbed the back of my neck. He went to throw me over the ropes, but again, the darn lights flew off. Jarrett immediately let go, and I suspected he left the ring, not wanting to have to endear the mystery man again. I growled and stomped the ring with my foot, angry that this was happening again. This time, it happened for only a short few seconds until the lights flew back on. When I looked around the crowd and arena, I saw no one. But as I looked back into the ring, I saw an identical slip of white paper as I had earlier on the first taping. I sighed and walked over to it, snatching it up. I unfolded it and caught site of another letter: 'M'. I crumpled it up in distaste and threw it back to the mat before sliding out of the ring and walked up the ramp angrily. I ignored the fans as I walked backstage and completely passed Chris who had been there the whole time.

"Whoa Tess, wait up!" he called after me.

I was too angry to hear him as I walked towards the parking lot. It was as if I knew to go there. I had no clue why, but I felt a pull to go there, as if I might find some answers by doing so.

"Tess." Chris grabbed my arm and turned me around. "You alright?"

"Chris let me go." I growled and grabbed my arm away.

He raised an eyebrow and looked at me hurt. I ignored the look.

"I have to go do something. I'll meet up with you later." I told him before taking back off towards my destination.

After a turn of the corner I stopped and listening. After hearing no one following me, I slipped out of the back door and looked around the deserted parking lot. All that was there were the many cars, those of stagehands, the wrestlers, or some just of the fans. My eyes adjusted into the dark and I slowly walked down the rows of cars, trying to find the reason why I felt a need to come here. Finally, I found it. Or actually, I found something I didn't want.

"We just keep meeting up in the odd places huh?" Alex smirked as he made his way over to me.

I sighed and folded my arms.

"So what's a pretty girl like you doing outside all alone?" he asked, letting his hand with his camera fall to his side.

"None of your business. Go back to stalking people." I pushed past him.

Alex shrugged and followed. After a moment I stopped and turned on him angrily.

"Anyone but me Shelley." I growled.

"Sorry, you said to stalk someone. Unfortunately, you're the only one around." He stated.

I rolled my eyes. "Well then go find someone else. I'm not in the mood for you." I began walking again.

And yet again, Alex followed. My fists clenched as I decided to try my hardest not to hit the man.

"So where are you going?" he asked, lifting his camera on and flicking it on.

"No where." I mumbled.

"So then why are you out here?" he asked.

"Don't worry about it."

"Do you know who the mystery man is?" he asked.

"Go away Shelley." I tried to walk faster.

"So do you?" he kept up.

I remained silent as I continued to walk. This is when I began to hear silence. I figured that Alex just decide to follow me silently. But even when I stopped walking, I heard no footsteps from behind or from anywhere around me. I raised an eyebrow and looked back. Nothing. I fully turned now and looked in all directions. It was as if Alex had completely vanished. He was nowhere in sight. I scratched my head in confusion as I looked for clues as to where he could be. When I found none, I shrugged and turned back around. But before I could, something caught my eyes. I groaned as I found another slip of paper before my feet. This time, I ignored it and just went back to my walking. But after a moment I groaned and turned back to where the piece of paper was silently laying and picked it up. I cursed my curiosity before peering at this slip's contents.

"P?"

* * *

**A/N: C M P...now i wonder what those mean. they could be a message, or, initials. but to what?**

**now if any of you are familar with the great old days of TNA, or ROH, these letters might spark a certain person up. but then again, maybe it wont.**


	48. Chapter Forty Seven

**Chapter Forty-Seven:**

"I said I was sorry Chris." I sighed.

He nodded and looked towards the road as he drove he and I to the location that everyone was going to meet at. I sighed as I slumped into the seat and look out the window. For a birthday, the day certainly wasn't going all that well. Sure it started out great, but all good things come to an end eventually. I suppose mine decided to during the tapings. This was one reason why I hated celebrating birthdays. You always got hurt at some point in the day. If it was intentional or not. You always get hurt.

"Please Chris, I'm sorry." I pleaded, not able to take that hurt look from him anymore.

He remained silent as he turned into a parking lot of a club. I felt tears prick my eyes before feeling the car stop. As Chris practically jumped out of the car, I slowly drew myself up and out, not wanting to have to endear anymore of the day. I felt a tear fall down my face as Chris walked into the club. I bit my lip before looking around and slowly following. Once I entered, Jeff immediately stopped me.

"Hey T." he greeted.

"Hi." I muttered.

"Jay told me what happened. What a way to celebrate a birthday huh?" Jeff looked at me in sympathy. "Are you and Chris alright?"

I shrugged. "I think he's mad at me."

"He'll get over it." He wrapped an arm around me. "Now try to be happy alright?"

I nodded.

"I'll take that. If it makes you feel any better, your brother and brother in law are here. Your parents had to go back and Stephanie wasn't feeling well so Becky went back with her. But those two stuck around. And a few others showed up." he led me towards a VIP lounge room.

I raised an eyebrow. "Who?"

"Shawn, Ric, and Rey." Jeff grinned.

A small smile fell on my face as we entered the room and I was immediately hugged by the one and only Shawn Michaels.

"Hey kid." He grinned down at me. "Happy birthday. One year older. That's exciting."

"Oh yeah, so totally awesome." I rolled my eyes sarcastically.

"You can't really blame her there. Considering her lovely night. How's the head Tess?" Rey Mysterio walked over and gave me a hug.

I returned it and frowned. "Hurts a bit, but I've had worse. Where's Ric at?"

"Chatting with Carrie. Apparently those two are good with one another again." Rey pointed over to a corner.

I watched with a smile as Carrie laughed with her father. I knew family was important to her, it always had been. And when Carrie began working for TNA two years or so back, her and her father and a large falling out. It wasn't until she saw him at the supershow weeks back that the two talked. I suppose more than one family mended that night.

"So where's this guy we keep hearing about?" Shawn asked.

I looked around the room in confusion. Chris wasn't here.

"He came into the club, but apparently he isn't here." I sighed. "I'm going to go find him."

The two nodded as I walked back into the main club area. I looked over the many faces but couldn't find him. Thankfully, I caught sight of him off at the bar, looking at the counter, beer beside his arms. I inhaled sharply before walking over to him.

"Hi." I greeted softly.

"Hi." He returned, not looking at me.

"Chris, I'm sorry. I was just angry and not myself. This whole Mystery Man thing has gotten to me. I'm sorry for snapping at you. Please don't be mad at me."

"I'm not mad at you." He scratched the back of his head before turning to me. "I'm just hurt that instead of just talking to me, you brushed me off. Just like before."

"Before?" I asked confused.

"After Final Resolution when we got you back. You wouldn't talk to me. You're doing it again." He sighed.

I mentally hit myself for not remembering. "I'm sorry."

"Stop saying that." He stood up angrily. "Stop saying it when you never mean it."

"Chris, I am sorry."

"Yet you keep doing this!" he shouted angrily.

I took a step back. "Chris, please. I'm sorry. I'm really really sorry."

He glared at me before brushing past me.

"I don't want to lose you. I need you. You're the only good thing in my life. You're the only reason why I don't just quit this damn company. Please don't just walk away. I am sorry. Please Chris." I turned and tried to stop him.

Chris stopped and just stood there. I felt tears run down my face. I didn't want to lose him. Out of anyone, I needed him the most. He was always there for me. Even when we hated each other, he was always there to help me. I couldn't lose that one stable thing in my life right now. Eventually Chris turned around and looked at me.

"I'm sorry." I whispered.

He nodded and walked over to me. I latched onto him as he wrapped his arms around me tightly.

"You have to talk to me Tess. That's the only way this relationship is going to work out." He told me as he held me tight.

I nodded into his chest, not wanting to let him go, in fear that if I do, he'd be gone forever. I felt a kiss on the top of my head before being led somewhere. I didn't realize where we were until I felt cold wind touch my bare skin. I lifted my head and looked around, confused to why we were outside. I looked back at Chris and he wiped away my tears.

"I am sorry." I told him.

"I know." He lifted my chin and kissed me deeply.

I deepened the kiss, never wanting to stop. I felt one of his hands roam up and down my back as I was pulled more into him. I felt his lips soon find my neck and sighed in contempt.

"We should ah, probably go back in there." I closed my eyes and let my body melt into his.

"Do we have to?" he asked into my ear as he began to nip at it.

"Yeah." I moaned.

Chris kissed me once more on the lips before nodding and letting me walking into the club in front of him. Before we could go to far, I turned back around to face him.

"We're okay right?" I asked.

He nodded and put and arm around my waist as we walked. A smile fell on my lips as I caught site of everyone looking impatient.

"You know, as this was planned for you, you should probably be here." John rolled his eyes as we reached the lounge.

I slapped him over the head before brushing past him and over to where Shawn, Ric, and Rey were talking.

"Hey you three." I greeted them.

"Everything ok?" Shawn looked between Chris and me.

I looked up at Chris and smiled. "Yeah. Oh right. Chris, this is Shawn, Ric, and Rey, guys, this is the infamous Chris."

* * *

"Okay seriously John, this is just nasty." I held up a pair of handcuffs as his gift to me.

John grinned from he spot in the room. I rolled my eyes and threw them at Chris who smirked wickedly and held onto them.

"Wipe bad idea from your head Chris." I wagged my finger at him before cracking up in laughter.

"Can we go on, some of us don't want to know about your sex life." my brother groaned.

I stuck my tongue out at him before grabbing a present I knew was from AJ. Call it intuition. I ripped off the paper off and found a small square silver box.

"Wow, a box. Thanks AJ. I love it." I grinned sarcastically.

"See now you cant say I don't know you." He whacked me over the head as he watched from behind.

I rolled my eyes before lifting the lid off. As I did, my eyes widened. Inside the box, lying on a soft velvet cushion was what I now considered to be the most beautiful necklace of mankind. As I lifted it up, my jaw dropped. It was silver in color, with a small chain link rope. Attached to the chain link was a small flat model of what the TNA ring looked like. As I peered at it carefully, the letter T was engraved inside the ring. I ran a thumb over it, not believing it. It was amazing.

"Ah, you like it right?" AJ asked from behind.

I turned around and hugged him tightly.

"I love it." I told him with a grin.

AJ flushed but grinned back as well.

"I'm glad you like it. I wasn't sure."

I stepped back and looked up at him. "I absolutely love it. Thank you so much!"

"Hey, anything for my fav girl."

* * *

POV OFF

* * *

Chris' eyes narrowed as Tess and AJ hugged again. It had been driving him crazy at how much closer the two of them had gotten in the past few days. With him not able to wrestle, AJ was able to take his spot in the PPV, as well as the tapings earlier. It was as if AJ wanted all of this happen.

"Hey dude you okay?" Jay leaned over the table and asked him.

"Yeah." He mumbled while silently cursing AJ. He had always known he should have never start to trust him.

"Jealous?" Jay asked.

"No."

"Looks that way. I'd keep it up too. Apparently he likes her." Jay raised an eyebrow and sat back in his seat.

Chris looked over at him in surprise. Jay just shrugged his shoulders and went back to the conversation he was having with Randy. Chris' eyes fell back on Tess and AJ. It would make sense if Jay were right. The gift, the more time spending together, stepping up and taking his own role in the PPV match, wanting to protect her more than usual, blowing up over Raven. It all fell into place. As Tess went back to opening the rest of her presents, Chris made a vow to himself. He wasn't going to let AJ have her. He would do whatever he had to do to keep Tess. She was the best thing in his life right now. And he wasn't about to let AJ steal another thing of his. His title was enough; his girl would just be crossing the line.

* * *

**A/N: alright so alot of people pf stated who they think the mystery man is...i'm not going to directly state if your right or not...but...i'll give you a little hint, either for u to already know, or to look up. ready?**

**1) he had a feud against Christopher Daniels**

**2) around June 2005, he won the ROH Title and refused a challenge by Christopher Daniels**

**3) He used to be in TNA**

**4) He oddly enough was signed by WWE and is in OVW**

**alright, so if that doesnt give it away for some of you, it'll come out in the story soon enough. keep on checking.**


	49. Chapter Forty Eight

**Chapter Forty-Eight:**

* * *

POV OFF

* * *

"So apparently, Daniels knows that Styles likes McMahon." Alex informed Scott and Petey the following Friday afternoon. "And all this week he's been trying to keep her away from Styles."

"This is great." Scott grinned.

"How? Don't we want her away from Daniels? How is her spending more time with him a good thing?" Petey asked confused.

"Because, when the betrayal happens and finds out about Styles and McMahon, he'll be even angrier." Scott explained.

"Yeah, how are we going to pull that off? You know McMahon wouldn't cheat on Daniels." Petey wondered.

"Oh but she will after we're done with her." The voice of Jeff Jarrett came from behind the three men. "Surprised to see me Scott?"

"Alex, your dead you hear me." Scott hissed at Alex who was mystified.

"Whoa Scott, I didn't do anything. I keep promises." He defended himself.

Jeff smirked. "He's telling the truth. But you see, you really have to watch what you strategize when inside my building. I've been onto this little plan of yours since Tuesday." He shook his head as Harris and Storm stepped up beside Jeff, cracking their knuckles. "So why are we keeping something like this a secret from me?"

Scott swallowed hard, eyeing Petey and Alex before thinking up a lie.

"Well we were…ah…"

"Oh stop the blabbering Scott. I know you think all my plans fail. You've been doing this behind my back to spite me. You forget who runs this show don't you? Everything eventually comes back to me. I always win. But apparently, you're not faithful in me. That's when people start getting hurt. I'd watch your step in this company Scott, along with Team Canada's; you're on thin ice. And I'll be more than happy to let you sink. I'll be taking on this project. So don't even try to continue with it." Jeff turned. "Have some fun boys."

Scott, Petey, and Alex looked at each other in misery as Harris and Storm smirked and stepped forward while Jeff laughed.

* * *

2 weeks later

* * *

"What are we supposed to do now?" Petey asked Scott as Bobby and Eric left for their match against the Naturals with A1.

Scott sighed and shook his head while running a hand through her his brown hair. "I'm not sure Petey. If we knowingly continue, Jarrett will know about it one way or another."

"So why don't we just give it up. I mean, Jeff has to win sometime. Maybe it'll work better for him." Petey shrugged.

"If we let him do this Petey, we're stuck under him for the rest of our careers. When I joined up with him in September it was a temporary match, one so I could get gold into Team Canada. As that hasn't happened, or we've lost, we need to break off from them. We'll never get the tag team belts back if AMW has them. Jarrett will never allow it even if we are on the same team." Scott explained.

"So wait." Petey sat on a bench. "We're just going to go against them now?"

"Exactly. We'll string them along as long as we can, and then we'll give them what they deserve."

"So what are we going to do about the McMahon thing?" Petey now asked.

Scott though for a moment before smirking. "I think I may just have a better plan for her."

Petey eyed his coach carefully but decided not to get into details about this.

* * *

POV ON

* * *

"So happy your back?" I asked Chris, as we got ready in out locker room.

He smirked. "Hell ya."

I chuckled and stood, fixing my ring attire. "I look alright?"

Chris' eyes fell over me. "You look more than alright."

I grinned. "Thanks. You don't look to shabby yourself." I winked at him.

Chris rolled his eyes before throwing an envelope over at me.

"What's this?" I caught it and looked at it oddly.

"Its called opening it." He walked over.

I stuck my tongue out at him before ripping the paper away. As I did, I saw what appeared to be a plane ticket inside.

"A plane ticket?" I raised an eyebrow and looked up at Chris.

"Read it." He encouraged.

I shrugged and did so. As I did, my eyes widened.

"Hawaii!" I exclaimed.

"Well you said you always wanted to go." Chris nodded.

I threw my arms around him tightly. "This is amazing. Thank you so much!"

I heard him chuckled and return the hug.

"So does this mean I get to go away by myself and get myself a cuter guy?" I winked at him with a smirk.

"No." he glared down at me. "I'm going too, don't worry."

I pouted. "Well this ruins all my fun."

He rolled his eyes.

"So what's the occasion?" I asked, looking back at the ticket in my hands.

"Well its bit of your present for your birthday I suppose. That and I thought we could use a nice vacation from everything." He stated.

"Sweet." I grinned. "When are we going?"

"Thursday and coming back the Saturday before Destination X." Chris answered.

"Does this mean we don't have to train?"

"Nice try there Tess." He rolled his eyes.

"Dang, I was hoping for real relaxation." I frowned.

"Oh, we'll have some of that too." He smiled wickedly.

I nudged him away with a laugh.

"I still have those handcuffs too." He whispered in my ear as he brought me closer to him.

"Ooo, kinky." I winked.

"Damn straight." He smirked.

"Are we talking sex?" Terry said from the now open doorway with Ray and Devon. "Because if you are, please stop."

I laughed. "What do you expect? We're young lovers here."

Terry rolled his eyes. "Yeah well, some of us have known you for way to long to ever think of you like that."

"Get used to it." I stuck my tongue out at him.

"Joy." He replied sarcastically.

"So is there a reason you're three are here?" Chris asked.

"Just wanted to check up on you two." Terry shrugged.

"And why are you checking up on us?" I put my hands on my hips.

Ray smirked. "Oh you know how you are. We wanted to make sure you weren't trying to bring Chris here over to the dark side."

I rolled my eyes. "How original. But don't worry. I haven't tried that yet."

"I somehow doubt she could bring me over to this 'dark side'" Chris shook his head.

"Oh believe me, its possible. I have the scars to back it up." Terry smirked. "But we'll let you guys get back to whatever you were doing."

I nodded. They returned the gesture before leaving.

"What was that about?" Chris asked.

I shrugged. "No clue. But away from that. You ready?"

"Of course."

"No I mean it. How are you feeling?" I looked over him concerned.

Chris sighed. "I'm fine babe. I feel great."

"You sure?"

He caught my chin and nodded with a smile.

"Sorry, I just worry. It's the girlfriends job." I smiled back.

"And I wouldn't want it any way." He laid a soft kiss on my lips. "Now lets get out there and show them what I can do."

* * *

"Ooo, I'm so excited. An Ultimate X! That's so exciting." I jumped up and down.

Chris rolled his eyes. "Do you even know what's involved in the match?"

"I'm not stupid you know." I pushed him.

"Then you'd be able to excuse my not so enthusiastic momentum."

"Oh come on. You get to go for the title. Aren't you excited about that? Last time you were in this kind of match you won remember." I pocked him slightly as we walked.

"True. But it's not a match someone exactly loves. Its hard to prepare for." He sighed and wrapped an arm around my shoulder.

"You'll do great. You always do." I grinned up at him.

"Thanks." He kissed the top of my head. "Anyways, I have to go get a shower before the next tapings."

I nodded. "I'm going to go find someone to talk to."

"Well you know." Chris raised an eyebrow as a smirk etched its way onto his face. "You could always join me."

I rolled my eyes and pushed him away from me. "Your perverted you know that."

"I know." He smirked before giving me one last kiss. "I'll see you soon."

I chuckled as I watched him turn down the hall towards our locker room before heading down a different hall. Before though, with my lovely experiences of being alone, I peered down it. I sighed as all lights were on and no one appeared to be around. Finally, a place of peace. I inhaled softly before slowly walking down the hall. Much to my delight, and a bit of confusion, the oh so mysterious man who repeatedly saved me, walked out of one of the spare locker rooms. Careful not to be seen, I quickly darted around a corner and spied on the man. As I spotted him coming my way, I hid farther into the shadows, but not too far back, as I wanted to try to catch a glimpse of the man. Unfortunately though, as he walked past, his hood was still over more than half of his face, hiding his features of being seen. I sighed and waited until he passed to continue my walk. Before I could though, I was grabbed roughly from behind and thrown into something hard. I winced at the slight pain now in my side before looking up at the smirking faces of AMW. I groaned and slowly stood up, my hand on my side.

"What the hell do you two want?" I glared at them.

"Well ultimately we want you dead. But as that's illegal, we'll just settle on kicking the living hell out of you." Harris stepped forward.

"Technically, kicking the living hell out of me would be killing me." I winked. "Sorry to burst your bubble and all."

I made to side step him, but Storm came and pushed me up against the wall.

"Might want to watch that mouth of yours McMahon. It'll get you in trouble around here." He warned.

I narrowed my eyes. "And one of these days, your gonna get your ass kicked."

Storm grabbed my neck sharply. "Is that a threat."

I clenched my teeth as I felt a slip of oxygen.

"Not so tough now are you?" he laughed before throwing me into the opposite wall.

I coughed from getting my oxygen back and looked up at the two with the nastiest glare I could muster. Unfortunately it did absolutely nothing as Harris came over and kicked me repeatedly in the ribs. I cried out in pain as a pop sounded from my side. I braced myself for more, but nothing came. I opened my eyes that I realized were closed from the pain and saw the mystery man throwing down a chair and pushing the bodies out of the hallway. I breathed in a sigh of relief before crying in pain from what I supposed to be a broken rib.

"Are you alright?" the mystery man knelt down beside me.

I looked up at him, trying to find something to tell me who this was. But there was nothing. I sighed and shook my head.

"Feels like you have a broken rib." He stated as a hand traveled over my aching ribs.

I inched away from his touch. Though not because I feared him, but because it was too painful. I felt his intense stare pierce through me before he stood and held out a hand. I looked at it for a moment before nodding and slowly taking it. Once I was standing, pain once again ruptured through my ribs. My hands instantly flew to the insured side, but as they did, more pain came.

"I'll take you to the trainers. Its only a few doors down." He offered.

I slowly nodded as he put a hand on my back and led me into the adjacent hallway. I tensed as I felt his hand fall to my side, and firmly touch my ribs. I stopped walking and tried to move away from his touch. But he held on firmly and motioned me to continue walking. I bit my lip and did so, feeling the need to want to get there as soon as I could. Thankfully, the urge happened as the next thing I knew, I was sitting up on one of the beds, getting my ribs taped and bound. That's around the time that Chris barged in.

"Tess." He rushed over, a worried look on his face. "I heard what happened. Are you okay?"

I nodded with a lie. In truth I had so much pain I just felt like crying.

"That's a lie." He cupped my cheek. "I'm going to kill those two."

"I'm fine." I stated softly.

"No your not. You look close to tears." He paused before looking around the room. "Speaking of which, Sonjay said something about some guy bringing you here. Who was it?"

I shrugged and looked around the room. He never left, that I knew. My eyes slowly landed on a darkened figure in the shadows of the room, barely visual. I eyed him before turning away, not wanting Chris to know he was still here. Knowing him, he would rip him in half to know who they were. For now, I'd just let this mystery man keep his identity a secret. It was how he wanted it. I owed the man this much as he just saved my ass back there.

"Tess?" Chris looked at me intently. "You sure your alright babe?"

"Yeah. I'm fine. Though I'm not so sure how good I'm going to be for my match tonight." I murmured and looked down.

"I'll talk to Larry alright?" he suggested.

I nodded.

"How about I take you to the guy's locker room then go have a chat with Larry?"

"Sounds good." I agreed.

"Alright." He kissed my forehead. "Sorry I wasn't there."

"Its alright. Its not your responsibility to be my knight in shining armor."

"Yes it is." He frowned.

I smiled slightly. "Nah. I see you more as my fallen guardian angel."

Chris chuckled. "I'll take that I guess."

* * *

**A/N: alright, so i dont give you guys enough credit. your amazing at the guessing game i gotta say.**

**so now Jarrett knows about the Plan. but has he gone to far with Team Canada? will Team Canada split from Jarrett's army and join the 'light' side? and what's this new plan that involves Tess?**


	50. Chapter Forty Nine

**Chapter Forty-Nine:**

"Are you sure you'll be alright to wrestle tonight?" Chris looked at me intently two weeks later.

I rolled my eyes. "I'll be fine Chris."

"Your ribs aren't completely heeled though." He reminded.

"Yeah yeah I know. But I'll be fine. I've have worse then this remember." I assured him.

"I still don't think you should wrestle." He muttered looking down the hall in front of us, catching a glance at a few members of the X Division.

I sighed and crossed my arms, a bit tired of his over protectiveness now. It had been going on for the past two weeks ever since that incident with AMW. It was sort of nice the first few days. But after two weeks of the same treatment, it began to grow annoying. I knew he only cared for me, but if I wanted to be treated like a little fragile girl, I'd go hang out with my father.

"Hey Chris, Sonjay Jay." Chris greeted Chris Sabin, Sonjay Dutt, and Jay lethal.

"Hey man." Sabin nodded. "Good luck out there tonight. Kick Williams' ass will you."

"Count on it." Chris smirked before looking down at me. "You guys know Tess right."

The three men looked at me and nodded.

"Good luck tonight too, Gail needs to get that attitude of hers readjusted." Jay smiled.

"Thanks. Good luck with your matches too." I smiled back, a small feeling of happiness that these men, who never really spoke to me before, were now.

"Well we better go. Its nice talking to you guys." Sonjay nodded.

"Yeah. See you guys." Chris nodded before we all departed.

"Those three are cool." I mused as we continued walking.

"Yeah." He agreed. "Never really saw that until recently."

"Yeah well, up to recently, you were a cold hearted bastard. It understandable." I stated with a small smirk.

Chris rolled his eyes. "I blame you for changing me."

"Personally, I think you should be thanking me, not blaming." I raised an eyebrow and nudged him.

"True." He smiled and grabbed me around the waist, bringing me closer to him.

"Oh please don't go making out. This is a public place you know." AJ complained from behind us.

Chris and I exchanged an eye roll before looking over at AJ.

"Hey Allen."

"Shh." AJ looked around with wide eyes. "Your not supposed to call me that in public."

I laughed.

"Why Styles, ashamed of your real name?" Chris raised an eyebrow and smirked.

"No…its just…well…would you like me calling you Christopher?" AJ defended.

"I get the point." Chris mumbled.

AJ smirked. "So what are you two up to, besides the making out thing?"

"Just walking. What about yourself?" I asked.

"Heading to the ring for a last minute warm up before tonight."

"Wow I totally forgot you two were going against each other." I looked between the two. "No dirty fighting."

"We should be telling you that." Chris rolled his eyes.

I slapped him over the head. "Very funny."

AJ chuckled. "Don't worry. If anyone is going to be doing the dirty fighting, it'll be D'Amore."

"True. I'll keep him in check though." I cracked my knuckles.

"Oh no. Don't go putting yourself into danger Tess. You know if you try anything with D'Amore, the rest of Team Canada will be coming down here to kick your ass." Chris looked down at me seriously.

"I'm not going to do anything on purpose. I'll just stop him if he tries anything with you guys. Or tries to cheat cheat." I sighed.

"Cheat cheat?" AJ raised an eyebrow.

"Don't ask." I shook my head with a smile.

AJ Laughed before we got interrupted.

"Hey Tess." Traci Brooks walked over.

"Hey Traci." I smiled at the woman who I had recently become friend with. "How's it going?"

"Pretty good." She nodded at Chris and AJ. "You still wanna hang out before the PPV starts?"

I nodded. "Yeah." I turned to Chris. "I'll see you later alright?"

Chris slowly nodded. "Be careful."

I rolled my eyes. "I know Chris. Love you."

Before he could reply though, I shot off in the other direction, pulling Traci behind me.

* * *

POV OFF

* * *

"Will you stop with the pacing Chris." Terry sighed.

"So you guys haven't noticed anything strange about her?" Chris asked, ignoring Terry.

"You mean more than her usual strangeness?" Ray asked with a raised eyebrow. "Nope."

"Maybe it's just me then." Chris frowned.

"Well how about you stop pacing and we can figure out what the hell your talking about." Jay suggested.

Chris stopped and looked at the guys before nodding and sitting down on an empty bench.

"Alright, so explain." Devon encouraged.

Chris sighed. "Well, all this week Tess has been acting weird. Well weirder than usual anyways. And then earlier, she just ran off with Traci."

"Well did you even think that maybe she needs more girl time?" Jay shrugged. "I mean she has Carrie, but with her in Tennessee a lot, there's not really many other girls she hangs out with. Maybe she just desperately needed girl time."

"Or you did something wrong." AJ thought.

Chris glared at him. "I didn't do anything wrong."

"Really? Because maybe to her, you did."

"Such as?"

AJ shrugged his shouldered. "I have no clue. What did you two do for the past two weeks?"

"Not a lot, just hanged around at my apartment. I didn't think she should be doing a lot with her ribs in the shape that they are." Chris answered simply.

Ray, Devon, Jay, and Terry all looked at each other.

"That's it." Terry stated.

"What?"

"Tess hates being babied. Hates it more than anything." Ray informed.

"I just didn't want her to get hurt." Chris tried defending.

"Yeah but, to Tess, it seemed more like babying then an act out of concern." Devon nodded.

Chris sighed. "How did I not know that?"

"Maybe you don't know her as well as you think you do." AJ suggested off handily.

"Fuck off AJ." Chris snapped. "I know her."

"Really?" AJ raised an eyebrow. "Because it seems to me like you don't really. Even I know that she hates being babied. But then again, I have known her better than you."

"Come on you two, lets not argue tonight." Ray pleaded. "We all have a lot on our shoulders."

"I'm just stating a fact that Chris here doesn't know Tess all that well." AJ defended.

Chris stood, anger filling his dark eyes. "I know her well enough."

"Well enough isn't good when you're in a relationship Chris. Your supposed to know the person you love inside and out. Doesn't look that way to me." AJ smirked and stood as well.

Chris' eyes narrowed. "Is this just jealousy Styles?"

"Jealousy?" AJ laughed. "Why would I be jealous of you?"

"Because I have the girl that you want."

AJ glared at him before throwing out a punch, connecting with his right eye.

"Guys!" Terry stood angrily. "Will you two stop acting like two little four year olds fighting over a toy!"

"He started it." AJ shrugged, sitting back down.

Chris touched his eyes carefully, already feeling a bruise form. Anger spilled through him as he grabbed AJ, dragged him to his feet and pinned him against the wall.

"Don't fucking touch me again Styles."

"Or what?" AJ smirked.

"You'll wish you stayed friends with Williams." Chris angrily let go of AJ before stomping out of the room.

"Well doesn't he have a nasty attitude." AJ commented, fixing his t-shirt and sitting down.

"You egged him on AJ." Jay growled.

"Hey now, I was just simply stating a fact. He was the one who got nasty."

"No, he got honest. All of this is just Jealousy isn't AJ? I mean it's obvious to everyone except Tess that you like her." Jay stood and towered over AJ.

AJ's eyes narrowed as he stood, facing off against Jay.

"I'm not jealous. And I don't like her more than a friend."

"Right AJ." Jay rolled his eyes. "Don't lie to us. Just admit it. You like her."

"Fine, you know what, I do! Is that a crime!" AJ pushed Jay back.

Jay glared and went to hit AJ, but Ray and Devon held him back.

"She's with Chris AJ. She's happy, so just leave her alone."

"Why? Doesn't appear he knows her to well. Don't you guys want her to be with someone who knows her well enough to not hurt her?" AJ exclaimed.

"But she's not hurt AJ." Terry sighed.

"Yeah, but then why was she acting weird around him all week?"

"Because she was annoyed. There's a big difference there." Terry stated. "Just leave it at that AJ."

"No." he shook his head. "Chris was a bastard once, I know that better than all of you. He's going to hurt her one-day. I for one am not going to let that happen. If you guys just want to sit back and watch it happen, fine do so. But I'm going to stop it before it happens. This is war."

With that, AJ left the room, leaving the last occupants silent in shock.

* * *

**A/N: well AJ finally admited that he liked Tess. but whats going to happen now? and what did he mean by "This Is War"?**


	51. Chapter Fifty

**Chapter Fifty:**

"I so totally rock!" I grinned and jumped up and down after my match with Gail that I won with a 630 Splash.

Chris chuckled. "Calm down before you hurt yourself Tess."

"My ribs are fine Chris!" I exclaimed.

"No I don't mean that. Your about to trip on something." Chris rolled his eyes.

I blushed. "Oh, sorry."

"Don't worry about it."

I shrugged before looking down and seeing 3 roses. Dead roses.

"What the hell?" I knelt down and picked them up.

"Have they been here the whole time?" Chris looked around.

"I don't think so." I stated, standing back up. "Oh there's a card attached to it."

"Read it." Chris urged.

I nodded and began. "Don't fear the shadows."

"That's it?" Chris raised an eyebrow.

I nodded. "Yep. What's that supposed to mean. Don't fear the shadows."

"No clue."

"Is it alright for me to be officially freaked out now?"

"Pretty understandable." Chris nodded and wrapped an arm around me. "Come on, let's go back to the locker room.

"So do you think our Mystery Man sent this?" I asked as we walked.

"More than likely I guess." Chris agreed. "I wish he would just show himself.

"I know. This is literally going to drive me insane if it doesn't happen soon."

"Lets just not worry about it for now. We still have my match to come." Chris offered.

"Yeah that's a good idea. So how are you feeling about the match?" i asked.

"Pretty good. Like you said, the last one I was in, I won." Chris stated.

"Which is oddly one year ago today." I chuckled. "Ironic or what?"

Chris laughed. "You could call it that. Or just pure luck."

"That could be it too. Oh hey, there's AJ." I grinned.

Chris frowned, yet I never noticed.

* * *

POV OFF

* * *

"Hey AJ." Tess grinned at the man.

"Hey Tess. Chris." AJ shot a smirk at Tess before smiling softly at Tess. "Congrats on the win. Keep it up like this, and you'll be all anyone is going to be talking about."

"Aren't I already though?"

"That's true." AJ chuckled. "So you wanna go get something to eat while you're free?"

"Sure."

"Ah Tess?" Chris coughed from beside her.

"I'll be careful Chris. I'll see you later." she softly kissed him before walking down the hall with AJ.

Chris watched on with a glare.

"So I see your girlfriend in being whisked off by Styles now." Alex commented from behind.

Chris rolled his eyes and ignored the man.

"Silent are we? All right then. Just wanted to say that you should watch those two carefully. You never know what can happen."

* * *

"Are you sure we should do this?" Petey asked Scott as they waited at the heel tunnel before the ultimate X match.

"Yes Petey." Scott sighed. "We have to split McMahon and Daniels up in order for the plan to work perfectly. So make sure you do whatever you have to to turn them against each other."

"What about AJ?"

"I've got him covered. He's an easy one to convert. Just worry yourself over McMahon and winning this match."

Petey nodded. "And you're sure about all of this?"

Scott sighed. "For the last time Petey, yes. Now go."

Petey nodded once again and began his walk up the tunnel and onto the stage. With the boos facing him, he muted them out and finished his decent into the ring, which held the crossed ropes, 15 feet above the ring. Petey eyed them carefully before Daniels and McMahon made their appearance up on the face ramp. The crowd this time cheered heavily for seeing their favourite team once again together. Petey just rolled his eyes and waited as the two entered the ring and posed for the people. Next, came the champion. This time, Petey narrowed his eyes at the man who stole his title from him last month. It drove him insane to know that his grimy hands were on his title. But thankfully, their foolproof plan as about to take action.

"Ladies and Gentlemen. The next match is the Ultimate X bout for the X Division Championship Belt. The competitors are: representing his home country of Canada, with Scott D'Amore in his corner, The Canadian Destroyer Petey Williams; hailing from the City of Angels, with Tess McMahon in his corner, The Fallen Angel Christopher Daniels; and lastly, hailing from Gainesville Georgia, entering the match as the X Division Champion, The Phenomenal AJ Styles!" Jeremy Borash announced before the match started.

* * *

Tess hit the mat in anger as D'Amore once again tripped Chris with the hockey stick. It had already happened twice in the match, angering her to no end. And worse yet, the Ref had his eye on her, rather than D'Amore. This left Chris completely helpless as Petey looked to be winning. After giving AJ a devastating Canadian Destroyer, he waked over to Chris, who was on the mat, trying to regain his breathing. Tess screamed into the ring for Chris to watch out, but the words fell on deaf ears as he was thrown out of the ring. Petey now smirked and looked up at the Champion belt hung up on the red ropes. As the crowd booed, Petey walked over to the turnbuckle and began to climb up to the rope. Having just about enough of this, and seeing the ref having of been knocked down to outside while Chris was, Tess slid into the ring, set on changing this outcome of this match. She quickly rushed over to where Petey was clung to the ropes and grabbed onto his foot.

"Get the hell off of me McMahon!" he shouted down.

She glared up at him before trying to pull him down. Petey, seeing this as a great opportune, let go of the ropes and fell to the mat gracefully.

"What the hell do you think your doing!" he grabbed onto her arms forcefully.

"Trying to screw you over dumbass." Tess spat.

Petey smirked. To the right of them, Chris was climbing up onto the apron. Just a few seconds later, and Chris was in mid air, diving for Petey. Petey's smirk grew larger as he threw Tess in front of him and moved out of the way. The crowd went silent as Chris hit Tess. A sickening thud sounded through the arena as Chris knelt beside the woman who could barely move.

"Oh god. Tess. Oh god." He rolled her over, his eyes wide, face completely pale.

He tried to rouse her awake, never noticing, or not caring, that Petey was now up on the ropes and was grabbing at the title.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, your new TNA X Division Champion, Petey Williams!"

* * *

POV ON

* * *

"I'm the worst person ever." I softly heard Chris' voice.

I groaned and opened my eyes. I spotted myself laying in one of the beds in the trainer's room, all my friends around me.

"Hey Tess, welcome back to the world of the conscious." Jay smiled.

I rolled my eyes and I slowly sat up. As I spotted Chris, my face grew cold.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't know he was going to…"

"Save it Chris." I spat.

"Please babe, I didn't hit you on purpose. I swear. Williams moved you in front of himself at the last second. There was no way for me to stop." He tried to plead.

"You were still doing it when I was with him though. Either way I would have gotten hurt." I glared.

"I know. It was stupid."

"He didn't mean to Tess." Jay tried to help Chris out.

I moved my leg over the bed and hopped down. "Whatever. I'm going."

"Tess…" Chris tried to stop me.

"Fuck off Chris." I walked past him and out of the room.

I knew it was stupid. But it hurt me of what he did. Sure, I'm probably being a bitch. But he knew I was there either way. If I was in front of Petey or not, I was still there. I still would have gotten some of the impact if I were beside him. Chris never had to do it at all. He totally destroyed the trust I had for him.

"Watch where your going McMahon." Jarrett growled.

"Fuck off Jarrett." I brushed past him.

Before I could leave though, he grabbed onto my arm tightly and forced me to turn around.

"Watch your mouth McMahon." He sneered.

I rolled my eyes. "This is getting very old Jarrett. Come up with better things will you."

"You're just upset that your boy hurt you. I'm not surprised though, I mean you do tend to get in the way. Someone has to teach you a lesson. Maybe Chris is just becoming smart and learning that you need to leave." Jarrett smirked down at me.

I narrowed my eyes. "How about you go die in a ditch. I'm sure that'll make everyone back here happy."

Jarrett tightened his grip on my arm. "How about that threat is reversed. I mean with how your going, you're not going to have anyone left. Raven's gone, Chris is soon to follow. Apparently you don't know how to keep people around."

"Fuck off." I said through gritted teeth.

"Make me." Jarrett smirked before throwing me into a spare crate.

I winced at the impact, a small pain falling through my already hurt ribs. I felt Jarrett grab onto my hair as he dragged me to my feet. He then laughed cruelly and gave me a devastating DDT onto the cold cement. Before I could fall in unconscious, I felt a round of kicks at my ribs.

* * *

I groaned as I began to wake up. This was becoming way too familiar. But what weren't familiar were the surroundings when I opened my eyes. My heart skipped as I found myself in a strange bedroom. It was everything strange could be called. It was dark, and what light that was apparent, were from creepy little candles lit all over the room. I sat up in the bed, only to feel the sheets around me soft. I ran a hand over them and recognized it as pure silk. Wherever I was, it was anything short of nice. I looked back around the room, but my eyes still couldn't see much. All I could make out was the rest of the bed, a door across the room, and a window to the left, which was open and showed the cloudy night. With a confused expression, I slowly left the bed and walked across the room in what I found to be my bare feet. Even more now was I confused. As I reached the door, I heard footsteps reach closer. My eyes widened and I jumped back from the door. I tried to stay hidden in the shadows as the door opened, but the bright light from the hallway washed over the room, giving it a clear eyes glance. And even so, it gave me a good look at my mystery man, only with his face yet again covered.

"Your awake I see." He stepped forward.

I took two steps back, scared.

"I'm not going to hurt you. But I'll keep my distance." He nodded, his voice soft and comforting.

"Where am I?" I found my voice.

"In my home. I assure you your safe."

"How did I get here?" I questioned.

"I found Jarrett kicking you while you were unconscious. I stopped him immediately of course. That man really needs to learn to stop beating on women. Anyways, I figured it would be better to bring you back to my house instead of the trainers. Less questions." He informed. "Speaking of which, you should be calling your friends, they're probably worried about you."

"Who are you?" I demanded.

"I can't say."

"No. I'm done with this mystery crap. Its been going on for way too long now. You're always there, playing hero, sending me those flowers. Just show me who the hell you are." I demanded again.

He sighed. "Do you really want to know?"

"For gods sake yes!" I exclaimed.

He nodded and slowly reached for his hood. It felt as if time went ten times slowly as he slowly grabbed the edges and lifted his hood off his head. My eyes widened as the familiar face of C.M. Punk looked back at me.

* * *

**A/N: first off, i just wanna say i'm totally proud of myself at lasting out for 50 chapters! I've never had a story this long before, and if it weren't for all the reviewers and readers, i probably wouldn't have kept this going. **

**so the mystery man finally revealed himself...and like everyone thought, it was CM Punk. predictable, but interesting. now i'm sure your wondering the whole reason he's here. it'll come. but let me know what you think.**

**and whats going to happen between Chris and Tess now?**


	52. Chapter Fifty One

**Chapter Fifty-One:**

"Where in the world have you been?" Jay grabbed Tess and brought her into a hug.

Tess faked smile as she returned the hug.

"We've been really worried Mckid." Jeff walked over.

"Sorry." She mumbled.

"Where have you been?" Jay asked.

"She's been with me." the voice of CM Punk came from the hallway outside the apartment.

Both Jay and Jeff looked at the man in shock. Neither knew him personally, just by name and reputation.

"Are you okay?" Jeff immediately asked

Tess rolled her eyes. "I'm fine guys. As I'm in one piece, scratch the horror movie ideas from your head. He isn't a mass murderer."

Jay eyed the man carefully. "Looks the part."

"Judging someone by how they look, I always considered you to be one who didn't do that." Punk cocked his head to the side, his face completely emotionless.

"Could you guys cool it." Tess begged the two.

"So you're the 'mystery man' then?" Jeff asked, ignoring Tess.

Punk nodded.

"So why have you been doing it?" Jay asked next.

"That'll be explained later."

"Stop with the 21 questions wills you two?" Tess looked at the two.

"Yeah alright." Jeff nodded.

"Thank you." Tess looked at him with a smile before turning to Punk. "Do you want to come in?"

"I have to go. I just wanted to make sure you got home safe." Punk answered.

Tess nodded. "Well thanks for everything. And I mean everything. I appreciate it."

He nodded as well.

"See you around."

"I'm sure you will." Punk smirked before walking out of sight.

"That guy drives me insane." Jay sighed once they closed the door.

"How's that?" Tess raised an eyebrow.

"Too much of a mystery." He explained. "Now, you have to go call Chris."

Her face grew dark.

"Oh come on Tess. You can't avoid him." Jeff pushed her softly towards her bedroom.

"Why? I'm pretty good at it." She stated with a gruff.

"The guy loves you. He didn't mean for you to get hurt." Jay called to her.

"Yeah well I did." She shouted back before being pushed into her room.

She rolled her eyes before walking over to her bed and picking up her cell phone. Although she didn't want to talk to him, she had to eventually. And although she would rather it be later, those two wouldn't let up on the subject until the deed was done. So she eventually sighed and called his own cell.

"Tess?" Chris voice came through.

"Hi." She greeted.

"Are you alright? I've been worried sick." He asked.

"Yeah I'm good."

"Good. Look I'm really sorry Tess."

"Uh huh." Tess rolled her eyes sarcastically. "I'm so sure."

"Why are you being like this? You know I didn't mean to do that." He defended.

"Actually I don't know that. And I really don't want to talk about that. Actually, I want to talk about how you were treating AJ the night of the PPV. Threatening my friends now? I thought you got over that."

"Tess. Come on. You don't know the full story." He tried.

"Oh see I do. You thought he was jealous. Which is ridiculous. AJ isn't jealous. And then you egged him on. Not to mention you threatened him. I don't appreciate you doing that to my best friend Chris." Tess snapped.

"You apparently don't know anything. The guy is jealous. You're the only one who doesn't see that he likes you. Are you that stupid?"

"Me stupid? Well at least I don't hurt the people I say I love." She accused.

"I didn't mean it for god sakes! Who the hell died and made you the queen of all bitches?" he asked gruffly.

"Oh fuck off Mr. I can't even win a match anymore."

"That was below the belt Tess." He snapped, hurt.

"Good. Maybe now you know how it feels like to get hurt from someone you thought you loved."

"You just can't let this go can you. God, maybe management is right. Maybe we should bring in someone else to be my manager."

Tess' face paled. "What?"

"You heard me. It appears Management wants to bring in someone else for you to fight. And they also think we've had enough of being a team. I guess I don't completely hate the idea now." He sneered.

"Who are they trying to bring in?" she asked.

"Funny thing actually. Allison Danger. Used to be an ex manager of mine. We actually had a thing way back when. Haven't seen her in ages."

Tess' eyes widened. "Stop it."

"Stop what?" he asked.

"Stop trying to ruin our relationship."

"You already did that though didn't you? You were the one who ruined this Tess. Figure out what the hell is wrong with you or I'm going all board on getting Ally in here." Chris warned before hanging up.

Tess looked down at her phone before she slipped off the bed and onto the carpeted floor. Tears spilled out of her eyes as she put her head in her hands.

* * *

"Calm down Tess." AJ tried to calm her down over the phone. "Tell me again what happened. I can't understand you when you're hysterical."

Tess looked around the park she was in. she didn't even know where she was. She just left her apartment and walked. It had been an hour since she talked with Chris, an hour since she started walking.

"He pretty much threatened me with breaking up. He mentioned something about management wanting to bring in another female, and breaking me off from him as his manager, and having this new girl at it. How much do you know about Allison Danger?" she asked.

AJ paused. "Not much. Just that she's an amazing wrestler; she's done stuff over in Japan and all over the world. She's the sister of Steve Corino. And she was Chris' manager at one point."

"They went out. That's what Chris said." Tess added. "What if…what if she becomes his manager and then he dumps me for her?"

"Sweetie, he threatened you with breaking up, he's already thought of doing it." AJ tried to break it to her nicely.

Tess let out a cry.

"Where are you right now?" AJ asked.

"I-I don't know." She answered truthfully.

"How do you not know?"

"Well I went for a walk. And I kinda never paid attention to where I was going." She mumbled.

AJ sighed. "Alright. What's around you?"

"I don't know. All I know is that I'm in a park."

"Well do you know how you got there?"

"Not really." She answered in a small voice.

"This is great." AJ sighed.

"I'll find a way home don't worry about me." she assured him.

"How can I not T. your outside in the dark, all alone, and you have no clue where you are. Yeah, I shouldn't worry about you."

"Sorry." She looked down at her shoe.

"No, I'm sorry. I'm just mad at Chris. How about you leave the park and find a street name or something. I'll look it up and then come get you." AJ suggested.

"Alright." Tess agreed and got up from the bench she was on. "Now to figure out how to get out of the park. Right or left path you suppose?" I asked him.

AJ laughed. "Go with left."

"Your call. If I get lost, I'm blaming you. Ha, could you imagine me getting lost while I'm already lost."

"Its good to know you haven't lost your humor." AJ chuckled.

"What would I have if I didn't have my humor eh?"

AJ rolled his eyes. "So have you made progress yet?"

Tess stopped dead as one of the park lights fled on oncoming walkers. Her face paled as she noticed them as Team Canada.

"Tess?" AJ asked worried. "You okay?"

"Um…kinda hit a road block." She tried to walk back around but was seen by them.

"Look it here guys. McMahon is walking all alone in a deserted park." Williams smirked.

"Was that Williams I heard in the background? Tess, what's going on? Tess?"

Team Canada walked closer to her and surrounded Tess. Bobby knocked the phone out of her hand, making it crash on the ground. Tess looked around her in fear.

"Ah don't worry McMahon they're not going to hurt you." Scott D'Amore walked up behind them. "I am surprised your out here all by yourself though."

"Fuck off." She found her voice.

"Very inventive." Scott rolled his eyes. "But like I said, no ones going to hurt you. Actually, this gives us a great opportunity to talk to you."

"You don't talk. I know that much." She narrowed her eyes.

"But then again, you don't know me." Scott moved A1 and Eric aside.

"Some of us know you better than most D'Amore."

Team Canada looked around and spotted a man under a stray flickering light.

"CM Punk. Never thought you'd have guts to come back here." Scott crossed his arms.

"I'm not a scared little girl like yourself. So how about you move back from Tess here." Punk stepped forward until he was beside Tess.

Scott looked to want to say something back but he didn't. He merely nodded at his men and began to walk away. Tess eyes them carefully before turning to Punk.

"Wow, someone who has stalked me more than Alex." Tess mused with a smile. "Thanks."

Punk nodded. "You shouldn't be out here alone."

She shrugged. "I needed to think."

"Yet your lost." He raised an eyebrow.

"How did you…wait right, you were there all along. You really needa just come up to people instead of stalking them from the shadows." She rolled her eyes. "And yes I did get lost. But I was going to find my way around."

"Really? Because it looked like you were going to get yourself into a bit of trouble." He chuckled.

"Yeah well…I could have handled them." She crossed her arms in defense.

"I'm sure." He rolled his eyes. "Would you like a drive back?"

She shook her head. "I really don't wanna go home right now."

"AJ's?" he asked next.

She sighed. "Not really."

"Would you like to go anywhere?"

She shrugged.

"It helps if you know what you want." He sighed. "Do you want to just drive around for a bit?"

"I don't want to trouble you." Tess shook her head.

"It's fine. It'll make keeping an eye on you that much easier."

"Are you sure?" she asked.

"Come on." He put a hand on her back and led her towards the exit of the park.

* * *

**A/N: could Tess' and Chris' relationship really be heading towards the end after all that work? whats going to happen if Allison Danger really does come to TNA?**


	53. Chapter Fifty Two

**Chapter Fifty-Two:**

"So let me get this straight…my father let you leave WWE without any problems, if you looked after me. Damn, he really does love me." I smirked.

Punk shrugged. "It pays well."

I chuckled. "Is money all you care about?"

"No. Wrestling too." He smirked over at me.

"Alright so I can see that."

"So why did you come to TNA?" Punk asked while grabbing the empty plates from the coffee table.

I shrugged and watched as he walked through the living room and into his kitchen. After an hour of driving, Punk brought me back to his house. As I looked at it now, it hardly looked strange. Actually, it was more normal then my own apartment. It was nice, and oddly comforting.

"Better wrestling I guess. I love WWE and all, as I grew up there. But I wanted to make a name for myself." I answered.

"Understandable." He commented from the kitchen.

"So why did you want to leave?" I asked him.

Punk walked back into the room and sat back down beside me on the couch. "Needed a change. That and I didn't like how I was being used. I was champion for Ring of Honor once, and there, I was nothing. Decided TNA needed a facelift and took it upon myself to do it."

"Interesting. So how did my dad take it?"

"Surprisingly well. He immediately came up with the deal that he'll let me go straight into TNA if I watch after you." He nodded.

"Odd. Though I have to say, you definitely have a done a good job about it. Thanks by the way."

"I was just doing my job." Punk shrugged before looking over at me seriously. "What's going on with you and Daniels? I heard what you said to AJ."

I looked down at my lap, a sad tone apparent on my face. "We had a pretty bad fight. I guess it was pretty stupid. I was just angry that he actually hit me. And now he's threatening to break up with me."

Punk thought for a moment before talking. "He didn't mean to hurt you, you know. He just wanted to keep you safe from Williams. You can't punish him for that."

I shrugged. "But he still hit me."

"Yes, but no offence, you've taken way more dangerous bumps then that. So he accidentally hit you. What he intended to do was kick the hell out of Williams. He just wanted to keep you safe. As much as I hate the guy, and believe me I really hate him, he wouldn't hurt you on purpose. He's a good guy."

I looked down, a bit ashamed now.

"Do you love him?" Punk asked.

"Of course I do." I answered.

"Then you should know that he wouldn't hurt you."

I sighed. "I know. Like it said it was stupid. Okay so I feel stupid, but still. This is why I can never have relationships. I always screw them up."

"Well you still have time to fix this one." He stated.

"I guess. What am I going to say, sorry I was a bitch, lets forget it never happened?"

He nodded. "Pretty much yes."

I rolled my eyes. "Easy for you to say."

"Just call him." Punk handed me his phone.

"Do I have to?" I groaned.

"You owe me this much." He rolled his eyes before standing up. "I'll be in the kitchen, yell when you're done."

I sighed but nodded as he left the room. Once he was gone I looked down at the phone hesitantly. I did want to fix all of this. But what if it couldn't be fixed? What if he was already on the phone with management, letting them know that he wanted Allison Danger to come back? I sighed. I couldn't do this. It was too hard.

"I don't hear dialing." Punk shouted from the other room.

I rolled my eyes and slowly punched the numbers into the phone. I lifted the receiver to my ear and waited as the ringing continued. After the fifth ring, I decided to give up. But before I could, Chris' voice came from the other end.

"Hello?" his asked gruffly.

I inhaled sharply before replying. "Hi."

"Tess?" he asked.

"Yeah its me." I sighed.

"Are you alright? Styles called me half an hour ago and told me that you were walking around lost before you met up with Team Canada and then the line went dead. Did they do anything to you? I swear I'm going to kill them." He growled.

A small smile fell on my face. He still cared, that was a start.

"I'm fine. Our favourite mystery man saved my ass yet again. I'm think we should send flowers to the guy." A bit of my humor fell through before I turned serious. "Could we maybe talk?"

Chris paused for a moment. "I think we better."

I thought about what I was going to say, but before I could say anything at all, Chris spoke again.

"Maybe we should do this in person. Where are you, I'll come get you and bring you back to my place." He asked.

My heart quickened. I knew of the past between Punk and Chris, having been just told of the history between the two by Punk himself. I knew I couldn't say I was here. Hell, if he knew the mystery man was Punk, there would definitely be a fight happening. And that I really didn't need at the moment.

"Tess? You there?"

"Yeah." I stated, trying to think up a lie. "How about I meet you at your place in ten minutes?"

"You sure? I can come get you." He insisted.

"No, it's alright. After being a complete bitch, I really don't wanna bug you. I'll see you soon alright?"

"Yeah alright."

"Bye." I told him before hanging up.

I sighed as I put the phone back on the table. Well that wasn't exactly the hard part. That would be coming up later.

"Everything good now?" Punk asked as he walked back into the room.

"Not sure. We decided it'd be better to talk in person." I told him. "Do you think you could…"

"Drive you over to his place? Sure." Punk nodded, finishing my sentence.

"Its kinda freaky how well you know me." I shuddered.

Punk smirked. "Well I did have to know you well enough to be able to follow you around for the past month or so."

"I blame my father." I rolled my eyes and stood. "Thanks for doing this. I appreciate it."

"No problem." he nodded. "And stop saying thanks, its getting on my nerves."

"Sorry." I cracked a smile.

Punk rolled his eyes before leading me to his front door.

* * *

I waited in front of Chris' apartment door after knocking. I sighed as I heard feet making their way towards the door.

"Hey." Chris instantly ushered me in as he opened the door.

"Hi." I greeted softly, taking the familiar apartment in.

"Do you want anything? Something to eat or drink?" Chris asked, leading me into the living room and over to the couch.

"I'm alright." I shook my head while I sat.

Chris nodded, as well sitting; only he sat in the chair across from me and not beside me.

"I'm sorry." I said immediately.

Chris looked up at me, a bit shocked I suppose.

"It was stupid to be mad at you for what happened at the PPV. It was beyond stupid. Believe me, I feel like a complete fool about that. I guess everything that's been happening lately just finally built up and I took it all out on you. I really didn't mean to. I guess I need to learn how to vent better." I told him.

Chris opened his mouth to say something, but I cut him off.

"It wasn't right to take it out on you. I mean all you've done lately is support me, so I had no right to be mad at you. I get you didn't mean to hurt me. I guess it was just a way for me to blame everything on someone." I continued. "And the whole AJ thing, I guess I can't complain about that as you two always hated each other. So with you two fighting lately, it really shouldn't have come to surprise me."

Chris stopped me. "You're rambling again."

"Oh sorry." I blushed. "I guess I just wanted to say I'm really really sorry. And I hope you can forgive my stupidness."

"For one…" Chris stood and walked over to the couch, sitting on the arm of it beside me. "That's not a word. And two, I forgive you. I shouldn't have gotten as angry as I did at you earlier. I guess I'm the same as you. Everything that's happened just got the better of me."

I nodded. "So can we go back to being okay again?"

"I hope so." He nodded.

A small smile fell on my face as Chris bent his head down and caught my lips in a short sweet kiss.

"So is it true management wants to bring that Allison Danger girl over to be your new manager?" I asked the question I had on my mind for almost the whole night.

Chris sighed and shrugged. "I don't know. Management called me the other day and told me that this was what they were planning but it's not definite yet."

I frowned. "This sucks if we have to split off."

"Don't I know it."

"Yeah, but you know her well. I'll be living like a jealous old woman." I crossed my arms and pouted.

Chris scratched the back of his neck. "You know I love you. Though I'd love to see you jealous.

I stuck my tongue out at him as his fingers found my ribs and they began to tickle.

"Believe me, me being jealous is definitely not a pretty site. I tend to get aggressive." I stated.

Chris smirked and pulled me up. I raised my eyebrow at him as he pushed me towards the bedroom.

"How about we go test your aggressiveness out?"

* * *

**A/N: so more is let on about why Punk is here...don't worry, theres more to the reason then let on ;). **

**at least Tess and Chris are alright again. thats good news. but how long is it going to last?**


	54. Chapter Fifty Three

**Chapter Fifty-Three:**

"Why do I feel this isn't going to be a good night?" I asked as Chris and I walked into the arena the next night.

"Are any of the taping nights good night?" Chris rolled his eyes.

"True." I frowned. "I wish for once something good happened to us. It gets a bit boring if we keep getting beat up or having fights. Couldn't it at least be new people?"

"You're an odd one you know that." Chris nudged me lightly.

"Damn straight." I grinned and looked over at him. "But that's why you love me."

"Unfortunately yes." he sighed.

"Hey!" I hit him in the arm.

"Hey back at you. I was being serious."

"You better have been." I muttered before catching sight of Larry Zbyszko walking towards us. "Why do I feel this isn't going to be good."

Chris raised an eyebrow at me before turning his attention to the approaching authority figure.

"Mr. Daniels, Ms. McMahon." Larry stopped before us and greeted.

"Hey Larry. What can we do for ya?" I asked.

"I actually need to talk to you two in my office about a few things." He stated.

Chris and I exchanged looks before slowly nodding. As we followed the older man, it was a known fact between Chris and I of what he wanted to talk to us about. Management must have been able to get Allison Danger to sign a contract, kicking me out of my manager role for Chris. My eyes fell downcast as I imaged what would happen next. They would either put me with another superstar to manage, or keep me just as a regular wrestler. The latter one sounded interesting, but it didn't erase the fact that Chris and I wouldn't be working together anymore. If you told me back in October or November that I would be feeling this way about losing my manager role for Chris, I would have told you, you were nuts. But over the past months, everything had changed. I didn't want to go back there, nor did I want to do anything else. I truly just wanted to stay in this present moment, where I was at least somewhat happy. But as Chris and I sat in Larry's office, I felt all of this slip away.

"I trust you two had a good rest since the PPV on Sunday." Larry made small talk.

I nodded, as did Chris. I really didn't trust myself to speak at this moment.

"Well, I asked you two in here for a pretty large reason. I was told you received a phone call over this rough nature yesterday Mr. Daniels." Larry eyed Chris before continuing. "I unfortunately have to say it is true."

"You mean…?" Chris began to ask.

"Yes, Management has been successful in signing Allison Danger to a year long contract at the very least." Larry nodded.

"So does this mean I'm not his manager anymore?" I asked in a sad voice.

Larry looked at me sympathetically before nodding. "Management liked how the two of you worked with one another, but with recent events and signings, Management has decided that there needs to be a change to some storylines. So yes, Allison will become your new manager Mr. Daniels We're actually planning on having Ms. Danger debut at the next tapings in two weeks time."

"So how is all of this going to happen?" Chris sat forward in his seat.

"The writers have decided on continuing the miss understandings between you and Ms. McMahon here. Although I'm sure what happened at the PPV was not on purpose, the writers saw this as a perfect way to end your alliance."

"I don't completely understand."

"In other words, tonight, the two of you will be accidentally hitting each other and messing up each others matches."

"Joy." I sighed sarcastically.

"I know neither of you two will find this a good thing. But I promise it'll work out in the end. And it will give you another competitor Ms. McMahon." Larry reasoned with me.

"I suppose." I sighed. "But what's going to happen with me once she gets here?"

"Well." Larry looked through a few different papers before finding the right one. "Management decided to put you with another member of the roster."

"Who?" Chris and I asked at the same time.

Larry hesitated. "This I think Ms. McMahon and I have to discuss in private.

Chris and I exchanged a look.

"Why?" Chris asked.

"We just do. You can wait outside if you'd like." Larry nodded at the door.

Chris looked to want to say something, but I laid a hand on his arm and shook my head. He sighed before nodding and standing up.

"I'll be out there." he told me before leaving.

Once the door closed, Larry grabbed back my attention.

"I trust you know who this mystery man is." He stated.

My head snapped to him. "What?"

"You do know who it is right?"

"Yeah." I nodded slowly. "But what's this got to do anything?"

"Well, Management has decided to put you with Mr. Punk for the time being. The moment he signed a contract he demanded to be put into a feud with Mr. Daniels. They figured that once Allison debuts, it would be perfect for you to become Mr. Punk's new manager and feud against the two." Larry explained.

My face was completely pale by the time Larry had finished explaining it all. Getting pushed out of Chris' manager position was one thing, but becoming the manager of Chris' enemy and my sworn protector thanks to my father, not to mention feuding with my own boyfriend…that was just too much.

"Are you alright? You look a bit pale." Larry asked concerned.

That was the understatement of the year. A little pale? Had he not seen my face? Although I could not, I had an idea it was just not a little pale. Probably closely resembled white paper.

"I-I'm fine. Just trying to take everything in." I assured him in a half lie.

Larry nodded. "Your new story line with Mr. Punk will most likely start at Lockdown."

I nodded. "Alright. Thanks."

As I stood, my eyes flashed over what appeared to be a contract. Normally this wouldn't bug me, but the content of the small part I read really intrigued me.

_'In signing this contract, all rights (name, merchandise, etc) to the World Wrestling Entertainment Corporation will be terminated'_

Before Larry could catch me peering at it, I gave him a small smile before waking towards the door. But all the while, my mind was working a mile a minute. That was the exact same thing that was put on my own contract when I signed with TNA. Although I was completely a WWE superstar, I was in development, so in technicality, I was apart of the company. I'm pretty sure if I talked to terry, Ray, Devon, Jeff, or anyone else who came from WWE, they would agree that they read that too.

"Tess?" Chris looked at me quizzically.

"What-huh?" I shook my head, yet previous thoughts still in tact.

"Everything okay?" he asked.

"Yeah fine. Just trying to take this whole thing in I guess." I lied to him, not wanting to tell him about what I had just seen.

"Alright. So who is it your managing then?" he wondered as we walked.

I bit my lip, trying to think of something to say.

"He just said someone who recently signed a contract as well. But apparently we're going to be feuding against one another. Lots of fun there eh?" I half smiled.

"Oh yeah. But if he touches you, I'll kill him." Chris stated, a sense of seriousness in his voice.

"Yeah, and if you cheat on me, I'll castrate you." I smirked up at him.

Chris' eyes widened. "Never gonna do that then."

"Good." I chuckled. "Hey do you mind if I go hang with Traci and Jackie for a bit?"

"No." Chris shook his head. "I'll walk you there. God knows what could happen if your alone."

A small part of me wanted to say I'd be all right walking there alone, as knowing about Punk's mission from my father, I wasn't truly alone anymore. And as odd as that sounds, I wasn't freaked out about the fact. In all honesty, it was a bit comforting that there was always someone watching over me. A bit like a guardian angle if you asked me.

"Are you sure you're all right?" he asked, leading me down a hall towards the women's locker room.

"Yeah." I assured him. "I'm alright."

Chris eyed me closely. I was pretty sure he didn't completely believe me, but thankfully he didn't pry into it and just let it go. That I was a bit happy about. Because at the moment, too much was happening. After finding out about Allison Danger, I was upset. Finding out that I'd be Punk's manager and be feuding with my own boyfriend, a bit angry and upset. But finding out that contract on Larry's desk, I was just down right confused.

"Well I'll see you later babe." Chris stopped in front of a door labeled Women's.

I turned to him and nodded before kissing him lightly on the lips. Before he could try to deepen it, I shot him a teasing smirk and slipped inside the room. I heard him groan and walk away, leaving me to chuckle.

"Hey Tess." Jackie greeted me.

"Hey Jackie." I nodded at her. "How are ya?"

"Pretty good."

"How's Charlie. I haven't seen that guy in such a while." I sat across from her on a bench.

"He's great. He's resigning with WWE, or so he's planning. He's happy, that's all that matters I guess." Jackie smiled, a truly happy smile.

"That's good. Never thought he'd go back, but I'm happy he is." I nodded before remembering what I saw earlier. "Hey, I know your probably gonna think I'm crazy, but do you remember much about the contract you signed?"

Jackie raised an eyebrow before thinking. "Not a lot, but some of it I guess. Why?"

"Well, when I was leaving a meeting in Larry's office a few minutes ago, I caught site of a contract on his desk. Usually I wouldn't have cared, but then I saw '_in signing this contract, all rights (name, merchandise, etc) to the World Wrestling Entertainment Corporation will be terminated' _and I was a bit intrigued." I explained.

"I remember reading that on mine." Jackie snapped her fingers.

"Yeah same here. I'm pretty sure if we had it on ours, terry, Ray, Devon and all of them had it too." I commented.

"Do you think someone…" she trailed off in thought.

"Someone from WWE might be coming here?" I finished.

"You don't think?"

"Well I guess it's not impossible, as we all came."

"But who?" Jackie wondered.

"I don't know." I put my chin in my hand. "I'm really intrigued now."

"Was it signed at all? I remember that was one of the last things I read before signing." Jackie asked.

I shook my head. "No signature."

"Which means its been made up for someone whose going to sign soon." She figured.

"Yeah, and now we just need to figure out who."

* * *

**A/N: so unfortunately, Chris is now getting Allison as his new manager, and Tess is becoming Punk's new manager. though that will be intersting, definitely since Punk and Daniels have had a history together.**

**Now what's really intersting is this contract.**

**Who from the WWE could be coming?**

**could it be someone from the rosters? **

**or maybe someone who hasn't resigned a contract?**

**or maybe even a past employee?**

**more mysteries, gotta love them eh**


	55. Chapter Fifty Four

**Chapter Fifty-Four:**

* * *

POV OFF

* * *

"Making her way to the ring, being accompanied by The Fallen Angel Christopher Daniels, hailing from Stamford Connecticut, She is the TNA Women's Champion, Tess McMahon!"

M-"another night full of non-stop action. We're kicking off the show with a feisty feud that's been growing for weeks now."

D-"that's right, last night was a brutal match between the two women we now see in the ring. Two of the brightest women wrestlers in the business are under one roof."

M-"and what about Daniels. We all saw what happened in the Ultimate X match on Sunday."

D-"it's plain wrong what Williams did, putting her in front of him to take the hit."

M-"it makes me sick that Team Canada results to such actions just to win a match."

D-"speaking of which, did you just see that trip Wildcat Chris Harris caused. These two need to be banned from ring side."

M-"we've seen what those two do. Its no secret that AMW will play dirty just to win a match."

D-"and they've corrupted Gail Kim as well, look at the eye poke!"

M-"at least Tess isn't taking any of this. She's just delivering it all back."

D-"this match just got high risk, is that a table AMW is bringing out from under the ring?"

M-"I think it is. They can't possibly think about using it. Oh! And there goes Daniels, hit straight in the head by the chair."

D-"and there goes the referee."

M-"this is getting too out of hand. Now James is setting her up for a death sentence through the table."

D-"is she even conscious anymore?"

M-"I don't know DW. I don't know."

_"Oh your didn't Know?"_

M-"is that who we think it is?"

D-" it is Mike. The James Gang are running down the ramp and stopping AMW from putting Tess through the table!"

M-"at least there are some people in the back that find this wrong."

* * *

POV ON

* * *

"Thanks again guys." I rubbed the back of my neck from the bed I woke on in the trainer's room.

"No prob." Kip waved it off.

"Yeah, we couldn't let our favourite McMahon get hurt now could we?" BG grinned.

"I'm the only McMahon you like." I rolled my eyes and winced as my shoulder began to ache.

"Where's Chris?" I asked after a moment.

"Not so sure. He came here with us, but then he left, saying he had to go do something." Kip answered.

"Odd." I mumbled.

"You want us to walk you anywhere?" BG asked as I hopped off the bed.

I thought for a moment. Although I knew Punk would be around if anything happened, I was also slightly taken back that it was these two that helped me back there and not him.

"Sure." I nodded.

As the three of us walked, I remained quiet, trying to think up reasons why Punk hadn't come out to help me. Sure he couldn't show himself. But that didn't stop him before. I didn't know why, but I felt hurt that it wasn't him who helped me. A small part of me wanted it to be him, or at least hoped it would be. But now my doubts about the man began to grow.

"You alright Tess?" BG asked, eyeing me.

I shook the thoughts from my head and nodded, though knowing these two like I did, they probably didn't believe me.

"Tess!" the voice of ray came from behind us.

The three of us turned and waited as Ray and Devon caught up.

"Kip, BG." Devon nodded at them before turning to me with a concerned face. "Are you alright Tess?"

I nodded. "Fine. Just a bit sore. Nothing I haven't had before."

"Are you sure?" Ray asked.

"I'm sure you guys." I sighed. "You haven't seen Chris have you?"

"No sorry. I thought he'd be with you." Devon raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah me too." I frowned.

"I'm sure he's around." Ray assured.

"Yeah. I'm going to head back to my locker room and see if he's there." I told them. "I'll go alone. It's only down the hall."

The four of them looked to want to say something, but I never gave them the chance as I turned and began to walk down the hall. I half expected them to follow, but as I turned the corner and into the hall my locker room was in, I heard no footsteps. I sighed in relief and began to walk. Though instead of turning into the room I should have, I kept walking. I'm not sure why, but I had an urge to try to figure out where Punk was. I guess I just needed to talk to him. Either that or get some answers.

"You shouldn't be walking the halls alone you know. Its makes my job harder." Punk leant against a wall from behind me.

I twisted around and glared over at him, folding my arms across my chest.

"Something wrong?" he raised an eyebrow.

"I thought you were supposed to make sure I don't get the living hell kicked out of me."

"Did I miss something?" he asked.

"Where the hell have you been?" I exclaimed.

"What happened?" he asked, concerned now.

"Lets see, I went out for my match against Gail, and AMW fucking got involved and kicked my ass. I would have gone through the table if it weren't for BG and Kip." I told him angrily.

Realization dawned over him.

"Look Tess. I just got here. If I knew that was happening I would have gone to help." He told me.

I narrowed my eyes and stepped back from him as he stepped towards me.

"I thought you were supposed to watch over me?"

"I am. But I also had something I had to do. I'm sorry I wasn't there." he said, looking genuinely sorry. "If I had been I would have been down there in a heartbeat."

My anger slipped away, knowing he was right. I wasn't even mad at him. I was just upset.

"Did Daniels do anything?" Punk asked, turning my head so I was looking at him.

I shrugged. "I don't know. Probably, but I was unconscious for most of it."

"Where is he now?" he questioned.

"I don't know." I said truthfully.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Not really." I shook my head, a bit shocked that I just openly stated I wasn't okay.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

I bit my lip and shrugged. I could feel the intense look he was giving me, even if my eyes were averted.

"Come." He lightly turned me around and led me into a spare locker room.

Once the door was closed, he sat me on a bench and then knelt in front of me.

"Talk." He encouraged.

I looked down at my lap, trying to figure out what to say.

"You know Allison Danger right?" I asked him softly.

Punk waited a moment before answering.

"Yeah. Knew her from Ring of Honor. I remember you mentioning her the other day." He commented.

I nodded. "Apparently management got her to sign a contract. She's going to be Chris' new manager."

I looked at Punk's face and was a bit taken back by the emotionless look on his face.

"Oh. Again. What's going to happen to you then?" he asked.

"I get to be yours." I informed him.

Now as I looked at him, he was completely shocked. I suppose he never knew about this.

"What?"

"I get to be your manager once she comes here." I repeated.

"Wow." Punk stood and began to pace, running a hand through his hair.

"Is that a good wow or a bad wow?"

"Just a shocked wow." He turned to me. "I asked for a feud against Daniels, but I never expected to get you as my manager."

"That makes two of us." I nodded sadly.

"That's why your upset isn't it?" Punk sat down beside me on the bench.

"Somewhat I guess." I shrugged.

"What else is it?"

"I guess I'm just tired of all this. I hate that every time I come to work I end up getting the hell kicked out of me. I knew it would be bad being here, but I never thought it'd be this bad." I let out.

I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"It'll get better eventually. Most of the roster that isn't involved with Jarrett, or scared of him, are getting to know you and screwing this whole thing. Give it some more time." he told me.

"Yeah I guess. Its just at times, I wish I never came here and stayed in WWE."

"But then you wouldn't have met Chris. And I know for a fact that you love that guy." He pointed out.

"Yeah. That I'm happy about." I agreed.

"Like I said, just give it time and everything will work out." He assured me.

I nodded. "Thanks for listening."

Punk smiled at me, a smile I had a feeling was rare on his face. "No problem. I'm always here if you need someone whose not one of your friends to talk to."

"Thanks."

"What did I tell you about saying thanks." He rolled his eyes.

"Sorry." I smiled slightly. "Gah, I feel like such a girl."

"And that's a bad thing?" Punk raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"Well no. But I feel way emotional, which isn't usually me."

I stuck my tongue out at him as he laughed. "Shut up. That isn't nice."

"Sorry." He smirked. "You might want to go to your room now. Someone might be worried about where you are."

"Yeah they tend to be like that." I nodded and stood.

Punk rolled his eyes and laughed.

"I know you said to not say it, but thanks again. I really do appreciate it. Even if you didn't come save the day." I winked at him before darting through the door.

"Oh come on, I wasn't even here!" he shouted after me.

* * *

**A/N: so another chapter done. i wonder why Punk wasn't there...could it be he was doing something he shouldn't have been? or was it harmless.**

**and i know this must be a growing question of someones mind: whats going to happen when Allison Danger shows up?**


	56. Chapter Fifty Five

**Chapter Fifty-Five:**

* * *

POV OFF

* * *

"Hey." Petey dumped his duffel bag down beside Eric and looked over at their Coach who was on his cell. "Who's coach talking to?"

Eric shrugged. "No clue. I heard the name Allison a few times though."

Petey raised an eyebrow and nodded.

"Yes I know Allison…don't worry, everything will go as planned…just make sure you are here in two weeks. Without you none of this will work…yes I know I owe you…I know Allison…yes…I get the picture…so do we have a deal?…don't worry, Daniels will fall for you again in a heartbeat, you know his and McMahon's relationship will never work out…stop worrying…alright…I'll talk to you later then…bye."

"What was that all about?" Petey asked immediately after Scott put his cell in his pocket.

"Nothing." Scott shook his head.

"Come on Scott, you can't just not tell us." Petey pried. "I'm the captain of the team, I ought to know."

Scott thought for a moment before nodding. "Alright. Eric get out."

Eric's head popped up. "Why?"

"Because Petey and I have to talk. Now go." Scott ordered.

Eric frowned but stood and left anyways. As he left, Petey felt sorry for the man, as he was always treated the worse by Scott in the group just because he had a different mentality than the rest of them.

"Alright, so what's this all about?" Petey sat on a bench, waiting for answers.

Scott sighed before sitting before his student and explaining the conversation to him. Afterwards, Petey had to control himself from jumping up in rage.

"Wait so you want her on the team?" Petey exclaimed in rage.

Scott rubbed his temples. "Yes. Don't go blabbing this around to anyone, especially the team."

"Why? Shouldn't they know that the woman we've hated is going to be our newest member?" Petey stood, beginning to pace now.

Scott sighed deeply before standing as well. "I want this as secret as it can be. If Jarrett finds out about this, we're pretty much dead."

"But why. I don't understand that." Petey wondered.

"We want to get at Jarrett, she's the perfect way to do so. Not to mention to get all the belts, we will need hers." Scott answered.

"Why cant we just use Gail, or hell, even Traci or Jackie. They'd be better people than McMahon." Petey stated.

"Although Traci is Canadian, she's with Matt, and isn't much use to us as a champion. Jackie just plainly can't do anything. And Gail, well, she's with Jarrett, and wont leave his side, you know that. McMahon is our best bet. And she's the best women's wrestler in the business." Scott pointed out.

Petey sighed and ceased his pacing. Although his coach had a point with that one, he still wasn't ready to accept the fact that they wanted her on the team. It still made no sense to him.

"Trust me Petey, this will be perfect." Scott smiled in encouragement.

"I still don't know." Petey shrugged.

"Weren't you the one with the strange obsession with the girl?" Scott raised an eyebrow with a smirk.

Petey went beat red. "I don't have a strange obsession with her."

"Then why have you been so keen on kissing her every time you meet?"

"I…" Petey trailed off.

"I know you Petey. I have for a while now. If you like her in any kind of way, odd or not, then you'll find a way to make her yours. Trust me on letting her in the group and she'll easily be yours." Scott smirked.

Petey looked at the smirk of Scott's face and grinned. He always had a way to make things sound so much better than they really were.

* * *

Alex gulped down a lump as he turned the corner. He had just come from a pretty intense scene. He was innocently walking by Jeff's locker room when he heard part of a conversation between him, Gail, and AMW. As the curious one that he was, he went to spy on them. It of course turned ugly, which meant it was time for the Shelley Cam. And what he caught on tape was priceless. When Scott saw this, Alex knew he'd be rewarded for this greatly. Maybe even a chance at Petey's title? All he knew was that when Scott saw this, an all out war was about to break loose on not only Jarrett's Army and Team Canada, but everyone on the TNA Roster. And personally, Alex was just grinning in anticipation.

* * *

POV ON

* * *

"So where were you earlier?" I asked as I walked into our locker room minutes later.

Chris looked up from his bag with an apologetic look on his face. "Sorry about not being there. I went to go yell at Larry for letting AMW do what they did."

I nodded. "Oh. What did he say?"

"Well he said since I already had a match tonight, he'd put AMW in a street match against the James Gang." Chris answered.

I grinned. "Well that solves my problems. Harris and Storm are going to get their asses kicked in."

Chris laughed. "Yeah well, you better get changed. My match is up first on this next taping."

"Give me two minutes." I grabbed my ring attire and skipped to the bathroom.

"I'm counting." He smirked as I rolled my eyes and entered the bathroom.

I hummed to myself softly as I changed from one ring attire to the next, as well as slightly changing the style my hair was currently in. after checking my appearance in the mirror for 30 seconds, I flew out of the bathroom and to Chris' side.

"Ready?" he asked, looking me over with a smirk.

"Yep." I grinned, grabbing his hand and pulling him towards the door. "Lets go kick some Canadian ass."

"You know if Jay heard that, he'd be mad right about now." Chris commented as we walked towards the tunnel.

"True. But thankfully he isn't here." I chuckled.

He rolled his eyes before looking over at the monitor, waiting for Team Canada to finish their entrance to the ring. Seconds later, our music hit and we took the stage. Once the fans had view of us, we got a roaring cheer. I smirked down at Eric Young in the ring, D'Amore at his side. This would be an easy match, as Young wasn't as good as Williams was in the ring. Yet with D'Amore and the rest if team Canada to consider, it might get a bit difficult. Thought I was expecting it, as were the brass knucks in my back pocket of my pants. If anything should arise, I was equipped with the best to make sure Chris won this match. A match in which if he lost, he would lose the chance at the title at Lockdown. Though I already unfortunately knew what the outcome of this match would be. As we were to follow our new storyline of accidentally ruining each other's matches, I knew this would end in Canada's favor. It didn't keep me down though. Because I also knew that just because Chris had to lose, it didn't mean he couldn't kick major ass before he lost.

"Remember what you have to do?" Chris asked in my ear before I went to the side of the ring.

I nodded. "Don't worry. I'll make sure I make you lose your match."

He rolled his eyes but nodded.

"Have fun though." I gave him a smirk and left the ring.

Once I did, the bell rang, allowing for the match to officially start. I grinned brightly as Chris got the upper hand. Though it wasn't for long as Eric came back after a tough workout of ten minutes with a surprising clothesline. I winced as he went to the top ropes and got a elbow drop on Chris. I hit the mat with my palms as he went for the pin. The crowd cheered in relief as Chris got out of the pin with the raising of his shoulder. From here, the match went back and forth, each having their own moments to shine. After a surprising 15 minutes of a match, Chris finally hit the ref out of the ring 'accidentally'. D'Amore of course saw this as an opportunity to hand over the hockey stick to Young. Meanwhile, I slid into the ring, smirking at Chris. As Eric stepped back, not knowing where he was going, he bumped into the chest of Chris. D'Amore yelled at Eric and his stupidity. I of course set myself up to his Eric with the knucks now on my right hand. As if it was choreographed, Eric immediately moved out of the way and my fist collided with Chris' forehead. I mentally winced as he fell to the mat, head splitting open the slightest. I felt bad at causing Chris actual pain, but had to cut the feeling down due to D'Amore pushing the ref into the ring. I slid out with a frown and watched in sorrow as the ref counted to three in Young's favor. My eyes narrowed as D'Amore grabbed Eric and celebrated up the ramp. I had the feeling of wanting to kill both men as I slid into the ring once more and checked up on Chris.

"Hey." I looked down at the man who was slowly sitting up.

"Hey." He groaned. "Remind me to take those things away from you."

I chuckled as I tried to wipe some of the blood off his head.

"Sorry. I didn't actually think it would hit so hard that it would split you wide open." I told him apologetically.

"Call it even from Sunday. That and now we're both hurt." He smirked before grabbing my hand and standing up with help.

"Oh yeah, that's a plus to all of this." I rolled my eyes. "You sure your alright?"

"Great." He answered. "Come on."

I nodded and helped him slide out of the ring before heading up the face ramp towards the back. As soon as we were out of cameras view, BG and Kip bombarded us.

"Nice right hand out there Tess." BG grinned.

I chuckled. "Thanks. I learned from the best."

"That's true. I do remember teaching you a thing or two." Kip flexed his arms.

"Yeah, how to act gay." I smirked.

Kip dropped his arms. "Hey, it was a gimmick that that crack addict company gave me. No offence or anything."

"None taken." I shook my head. "But you did act it out so well…I almost began to believe it was even an act."

Chris and BG laughed.

"She's got you there Kip." BG smirked.

"Shut it BG." Kip hit BG over the head. "We'll see you two later."

"Kick some AMW ass for me?" I asked.

"Of course little M." BG grinned. "We wouldn't want it any other way."

* * *

**A/N: whoa...lots of stuff in this chapter**

**Whats this about D'Amore wanting Tess in Team Canada?**

**and what is he doing talking with Allison Danger?**

**Not to mention petey apparently has an obsessive nature towards Tess.**

**And what does Alex have on that tape?**


	57. Chapter Fifty Six

**Chapter Fifty-Six:**

"So what do you guys wanna do?" I plopped down onto the couch beside Jeff and Jay.

"What, not hanging out with Chris today?" Jay raised an eyebrow in shock.

"He said he had to fly Philadelphia for a few days. Apparently Ring of Honor wants him to work a few shows. So I'm left here, completely bored to death." I sighed.

"Well you have us." Jay stated.

Jeff grinned. "Yeah. And you really can never get bored with us around."

"Well for you that's true. I tend to get bored just looking at Jay." I smirked.

"Not nice TM." Jay pretended to look hurt.

I rolled my eyes and put my arm around him shoulders. "Oh you know I love ya."

"You better." He said.

Jeff chuckled. "Wow, feels like old times."

I raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean."

"Well, since you've been with Chris most of the time, we've hardly seen you unless its when Chris is busy or at work." Jay nodded his head in agreement to Jeff.

I frowned. "Oh. I didn't realize that. Sorry."

"No need to be sorry McKid." Jeff grinned. "We like to see you happy. And Chris makes you happy."

"Well except when he's acting like an ass." Jay pointed out.

I rolled my eyes.

"Just stating a fact." Jay smirked.

"Your annoying." I punched him in the arm.

"I know."

"I hate you." I murmured.

"No you don't. You love me." He grinned and tickled my side.

I immediately jumped up off the couch and glared down at jay.

"At the moment I feel the opposite."

Jay rolled his eyes. I narrowed my eyes and stuck my tongue out at him before the phone rang. I gave Jay the finger before walking into the kitchen and grabbing the phone off its hook.

"Hello?" I asked.

"McMahon." The annoying voice of Alex came from the other end.

I groaned. "What do you want Shelley?"

I could just sense him smirking.

"I just wanted to say hey."

"Alright, good, you did, so now go away." I went to hang up.

Unfortunately, Alex stopped me before I could.

"Before you hang up I think there is something you need to know." He stopped me.

"What?" I asked, peering into the living room and sighing in relief at seeing Jeff and Jay talking between themselves. "And make it quick."

"This is something I actually need to show you." He stated.

"Right…" I rolled my eyes.

"It's the truth McMahon. You might not like me, but I do take my job seriously. And what I caught on tape your going to want to see." He tried to convince me.

I raised an eyebrow. "And what would that be?"

"I can't tell you over the phone. Meet me down at the park outside your apartment."

"Like I'm going to fall for that. The minute I'm there I'm going to get the crap beaten out of me by Jarrett or D'Amore. Sorry, but I don't fall for tricks." I rolled my eyes.

"This isn't a trick. I sweat." He insisted.

"I don't buy that. Your aligned with them, this is right up their alley." I told him. "Tell them to go fuck themselves."

"Wait. I'm not aligned with Jarrett…D'Amore yes. But Jarrett was only in the picture because D'Amore aligned with him. Not me. I was just the lackey." He tried to tell me.

"Sorry but no thanks." I hung up the phone in frustration.

Alex actually had the nerve to call me up and try to get me to fall into a trick. I wasn't stupid. I may have been hit over the head too many times, but I had common sense. It was plainly a trick set up by Jarrett or D'Amore. It wasn't below them to lure me out of my house. It was right up their alley. I wasn't about to fall for a trick that could send me to the hospital. I wasn't stupid. But as I began to walk back into the living room, a small part of me wondered if it wasn't a trick. There was that small part of me that was curious in that phone call. What if it wasn't a trick and Alex really did need to show me something? But it was Alex, he most likely was lying. But nonetheless, I couldn't shake my curiosity.

"Hey, who was that?" Jay asked, looking up as I walked from the Kitchen.

"Ah, wrong number." I shrugged, feeling the need to lie.

He nodded before looking back at Jeff. Meanwhile, my eyes fell over the door. I probably was going to hate myself for what I was about to do, but I knew I had to.

"I'm going to go take a walk. Try to burn off some of this boredom." I told the two.

"Alright. Be safe." Jeff called to me as I walked towards the door.

I nodded even though he couldn't see me and left the apartment. I was mentally kicking myself as I entered the elevator and took it down to the lobby. I hummed my entrance song to myself as I patiently waited, stuffing my hands into my pants pockets. As soon as the elevator doors opened to the lobby, I shot out of them and headed towards the exit doors. As I did, I looked through the glass doors and towards the park that was pretty much directly across from the apartment building. I tried to see if I could see anyone, but unfortunately I couldn't. Though if this were a trick, they wouldn't pick an open area where people could see to stand. I sighed and left the safety of the building, knowing that if I didn't go, my curiosity would drive me crazy. As I stepped out into the slightly cool spring air, I wrapped my arms around myself and walked across the street. I kept my eyes on everything, making sure no one was going to pounce on me or anything. You couldn't be too careful with the enemies that I currently had.

I sighed in relief, or what I believed was relief, as I saw Alex sitting on a bench halfway into the park by himself. I continued to brace myself as Jarrett and D'Amore had a knack for jumping out of places unexpectedly. Much like a jack in the box really.

"You came I see." Alex grinned as he caught sight of me.

"Get over it." I growled at him. "So what is it you needed to show me."

Alex motioned for me to sit beside him as he brought his camera up from his other side. I looked around the almost empty park cautiously before finally sitting beside the man.

"Brace yourself." Alex smirked over at me before bringing up the camera so I could see what was happening on the screen.

* * *

I sat alone on a spare crate, peering up at the monitor in the hallway. As the first taping of Impact happened before my eyes, I felt my heart quicken. Ever since I saw what was on Alex's tape, I've been anxious. It was too unbelievable.

"Anxious?" Alex walked up beside me.

I looked over at him from my sitting position and nodded.

"You'd be too if you were me." I commented, looking back at the monitor as AMW and Bobby Roode went against Terry and The naturals in a six-man tag match.

Alex nodded. "Truthfully, I'm just as anxious as you are."

"You're the one going out there to show the world that tape." I raised my eyebrow at him.

He shrugged. "Yeah, but after its shown, I'm going to have a target on my ass."

"That's true." I nodded, wincing as Terry got a Northern Lariat done to him by Roode.

"Are you sure they're going to do this?" I asked, watching as Roode only got a two count.

"You saw it for yourself. They said they were going to do it to send D'Amore a message." Alex assured. "Either way it's going to be seen on national television."

"Yeah I guess."

"I'm surprised you're actually taking this well." Alex mused.

"Why shouldn't I?" I asked, slightly confused by his statement.

"Well." He started. "Considering everything Team Canada's done to you, and the hell they put you through, one would think that you'd just think they'd deserve this."

I shrugged. "I'm surprising myself actually. I guess I just hate Jarrett that much more."

Alex looked at me and nodded. "That I can see. That guy annoys the hell out of me."

"Then why do you hang with him?" I asked, tuning the match out for a minute.

Alex shrugged. "For one, getting information for them is good money. That and like I said before, I'm not aligned with him, just Scott. I promised Scott I would play nice even though Jarrett drove me crazy with his ego."

I suppose I looked deadly surprised because Alex laughed.

"I'm taking a guess and say that you're surprised at that."

"That's an understatement." I looked back at the monitor. "Damn."

Alex looked from me to the monitor and winced as the move was played back on a replay. Gail Kim had handed Storm the beer bottle right as Bobby was going for the pin fall on Andy Douglas, who was now in the ring. Storm, surprising everyone except Alex and I, hit the bottle straight over Bobby's head, calling for Terry and the Naturals to win from disqualification.

"Well at least they fell through with what they said for once." Alex commented.

I chuckled before hearing the shouting of D'Amore coming this way "Well I better go."

"Please let me come with you. Scott isn't the nicest when like this." Alex moaned.

"Sorry, you're the one who likes the guy." I patted the guy on the shoulder, shocking myself. "Call me when you're going to do it. I wanna be front and center at a monitor to watch it."

"Will do." Alex nodded.

* * *

**A/N: i wonder what's on that tape thats so shocking? and interesting that Tess and Alex are getting along nicely now...that tape must really be something. any guesses as what it could be?**


	58. Chapter Fifty Seven

**Chapter Fifty-Seven:**

"Where have you been?" Chris asked me as I walked into catering a few minutes later after leaving Alex in the hall.

"Just hanging." I answered, kissing him quickly before looking at who he was sitting with. "Hey guys."

Sonjay and Matt smiled up at me before going back in discussion.

"You were hanging by yourself?" Chris raised an eyebrow at me.

"Yes." I shrugged.

"Uh huh." He nodded, not believing me.

Although he had a reason not to believe me, I was slightly miffed that he didn't trust me enough to believe what I say.

"You think I'm lying don't you?" I crossed my arms and looked up at him.

He scratched the back of his head and looked down at me like I was crazy.

"Well yeah."

I frowned. "What happened to trusting one another?"

"Well when I asked you, you kind of just breezed past the question, and it's pretty hard to believe you'd just hang out by yourself." He defended his motives.

"Thanks for trusting me." I grumbled.

"Its not that." He sighed. "Could we not fight right now?"

I shrugged and looked around the room. Although I wasn't going to say it out loud, I half expected Chris to be somewhere chatting it up with Allison, who was debuting tonight.

"Where's Danger?" I asked.

"I don't know. I haven't seen her. Everyone I asked said they haven't seen her." He frowned. "Your not going jealous are you?"

"Can I not ask a question?" I rolled my eyes out of frustration.

"Sorry." He mumbled.

I nodded. "I'm going to go see AJ."

Chris opened his mouth to say something, but I cut him off by turning around and leaving catering. Although I probably should be angry, I still was. I know I lied to Chris about where I was, but he still could have trusted me. Sure I lied, but what happened to trust? It hurt me a bit that he didn't even trust my word anymore. Hypocritical I know, but it still hurt. And then accusing me of jealousy. Sure, I did feel a bit jealous. But still.

"You needa stop the bumping into people thing Tess." AJ's cheery voice came at me after I bumped into him while not watching where I was going.

"Sorry." I blushed.

"No biggie. Wasn't like I was hurt." He grinned. "So what's up? And where's lover boy?"

I frowned. "In catering."

"What's with the frown?" AJ asked, noticing my look.

"Nothing." I shook my head.

"Come on T. I know you well enough to know something's up. What did he do this time?" he pestered.

"Its more like upset about the whole Allison Danger thing." I told him in a sigh.

"That's understandable." AJ nodded. "I mean she was his manager and ex girlfriend. I actually thought those two would stay together forever. They were pretty cute together."

My eyes fell downcast as my heart sank. Hearing that, hearing that they were so good together, it just made me think that maybe once Chris hangs with her during the storyline, he'll fall for her again. Which would leave me all alone.

"Sorry. I didn't mean for it to sound like that." AJ man a hand through his hair. "Though if you are having thoughts of doubting Chris, then maybe you should think about where your relationship is really going."

I bit my lip as I had a feeling AJ might be right. If I really did doubt if this relationship was going to work out once Allison got into the picture, then did we really have a future?

"Maybe I shouldn't have said anything. You look like you just lost your best friend." AJ frowned and lifted my chin up so I was looking at him.

"I'm fine. Just thinking I guess." I assured him; yet knowing my eyes betrayed me.

"That I don't believe." AJ cocked his head to the side. "But I'll let it go. Do you wanna go grab a bunch of junk food from the vending machine down the hall and pig out together?"

"As tempting as that sounds…" I paused as my cell phone rang. "I have to go."

"Why?" AJ lifted an eyebrow.

"I'll tell ya one day." I gave him a small smile before turning around.

I heard him say something behind me but I ignored it as I grabbed my phone and lifted it to my ear.

"Alex." I greeted, already knowing it was him.

"Five minutes." He stated.

"Good luck." I surprised myself by saying.

"Thanks, I'll need it." He sighed.

"So how was D'Amore?" I asked, walking back to the crate I had sat on earlier when accompanied by Alex.

"Angry as hell." He stated with a snort. "He would have gone to kill Harris and Storm if Petey and I didn't hold him down."

I chuckled.

"I have to go. Make sure your watching." He told me.

"Wouldn't miss it." I stated with a smile before hanging up and jumping up onto the crate once more.

I smirked as Alex entered the Impact Zone, boos ringing throughout the atmosphere. With his trusty Shelley Cam, he stalked down to the ring and slid expertly into the ring with ease. After throwing the crowd a smirk, Alex grabbed a mic and began to speak.

"Now now, lets keep the insults down to a minimum at least for now." Alex smirked. "Because believe me when I saw your all gonna wanna see this. See in the last few weeks, such as last, my former coach, Scott D'Amore, has had some problems with Jeff Jarrett and AMW."

He paused, giving time for the booes.

"So I decided I might as well air this. Now brace yourself America, this is a shocker."

* * *

"Are you still mad at me?" Chris asked as I joined him at the entrance to the tunnel about 20 minutes after Alex's time in the ring.

"I wasn't mad at you." I stated.

"Seemed that way to me." He raised an eyebrow.

I shrugged before his music came over the speakers. Without looking at him, I began the trek through the tunnel and out onto the stage. After basking in the glory for a few seconds, we walked down the ramp and slid into the ring. Chris posed to the crowd a few times before Elix Skipper appeared on the stage with the rest of Diamonds In The Rough. I had wondered what these two could do in the ring, as they were once an amazing tag team. I didn't have to wait long as in the matter of seconds, Skipper ran into the ring, making me to slide out quickly for the match to start. I began to frown as Skipper gained the upper hand quickly and kept it that way for most of the match. It wasn't until Chris got an impressive Enziguri Kick that the whole match turned around. Now I was cheering nonstop, yelling at the referee every time Chris only got the two count. In all honesty, I had almost forgotten what was going to happen in a few minutes of the match. But when I saw the referee getting hit out of the ring to my feet, I instantly remembered it all. I gritted my teeth before sliding into the ring, getting my women's title ready. Chris latched his arms through Skippers, keeping him ready for when I hit him. But much like the last time we tried this, Skipper had ducked, making me hit Chris squarely in the head. I stood frozen in the ring for a moment, until I felt a kick hit my chest, sending me to the mat. I rolled out of the ring and down to where David Young was waiting. He grabbed onto my arms while Simon Diamond pushed the referee into the ring for the pin fall to start. I groaned as the referee came too and looked as if he was going to begin counting. But before he could, an unfamiliar music began through the impact zone. The lights instantly flew off, stopping the ref from having the chance to count for Skipper. I sighed in relief and kicked David Young behind me, making him let go of me. I went to slide into the ring, but before I could, the lights came back on. I raised an eyebrow as I saw Chris now on top of Skipper, the ref counting the pin fall.

"Your winner of the match, The Fallen Angel Christopher Daniels."

The crowd cheered as my eyes fell over the ramp. Standing there with her hands on her hip was who I expected to be Allison Danger. She smirked up to the ring as Chris slowly stood and looked over. I felt a touch of jealousy run through me as I saw the look on his face when he saw her. I tried to shake it off as I slid into the ring and stood beside Chris, laying a hand on his back.

"Chris." I muttered to him.

Nothing. He just continued to look at her as she fell out of view through the tunnel. Chris then gained his senses back and flew out of the ring. I crossed my arms and stood there for a minute before going through the ropes as well. I watched as he sped up the ramp and out of view before I began my own trek up the steel. Once I was backstage, I looked around for where Chris was. When I didn't see him, I sighed and bowed my head, about to head towards the locker room. That was when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I jumped away immediately before turning around and blushing.

"Sorry." Punk smirked.

"You shouldn't do that." I flushed, trying to glare at him but failing miserably.

"Sorry." He repeated. "I'm guessing Daniels is off looking for Danger?"

"I guess so." I nodded sadly.

"Jealous are we?" he raised an eyebrow in amusement.

"Shut up." I turned and walked away.

I heard him job up beside me.

"I'll take that as a definite yes." He commented.

I remained silent as I turned a corner, Punk following me.

"So, becoming friends with Shelley I see." He mused.

I stopped and twisted to look at him.

"How'd you know…" I trailed of before realizing that he probably had been following me. "You really need to stop stalking me."

"Hey." He threw his hands up in defense, yet a smirk still displayed on his face. "I'm just doing what I was told to do. But really, befriending Shelly?"

"I'm not befriending him." I defended. "He just had information that was interesting to me."

"I was there the times you were with him." He raised an eyebrow. "The way you were speaking with him the last time, that wasn't how you tend to speak to people who aren't your friends."

"And you just suddenly know me now?" I shot him a glare.

"Well pretty much yes." He nodded.

I began to feel annoyed. "Whatever. I'm pretty sure you don't know everything about me."

"Really? You think so? Then how come I know that you love the rain? Most people hate it, but you love it. You always find you can think and relate better to the world when it's raining."

My mouth fell open. How could he know something like that? No one knew.

"How did you know that?" I blurted out.

"I know you remember." He stepped closer.

"Yeah but no one knows that." I stated.

"Hence why I know you well." He took another step closer.

I began to feel a bit intimidated by him, making myself step back.

"And I also know that at the moment, you're a bit intimidated by me. I know what your thinking and feeling. It comes with the job." He stated, stopping where he was with a smirk.

I narrowed my eyes.

"Jarrett's coming this way, so unless you want to get hurt, I would suggest you go to your locker room." Punk turned around.

I watched him with a confused look as he turned a corner, leaving me completely alone. Seconds later, the voice of Jarrett traveled down the hall I was in. my head popped up, my heart beating a bit faster. I raced to where my locker room was and flew in it. I sighed in relief as I heard Jarrett pass by the door without even acknowledging that I was anywhere near there. I mentally thanked god for that before turning towards the room. When I did, my face paled. I couldn't believe what I was staring at. I never thought I would ever see this in front of me. I couldn't help but let tears fall from my eyes as I saw the scene in front of me…

* * *

**A/N: what is it? whats happening in the room?**

**and what in the world is on that tape thats so juicy?**

**and is it just me, or is Punk becoming a bit creepy?**


	59. Chapter Fifty Eight

**Chapter Fifty-Eight:**

I stood there completely numb as I saw Allison straddling Chris, the two kissing deeply. I couldn't move. Nor could I speak. It felt like all feeling left my body as my heart felt like it was being ripped out, piece by piece. I had never felt this kind of hurt before. I had never been one to get cheated on. But here I stood; in front of a scene I never expected to happen.

"Oh fuck." Chris pushed Allison off of him.

Allison looked at him oddly before turning to me and smiling innocently. I had the sudden urge to rip that smile off her face, to make her feel pain like I was at the moment. But I couldn't. I still couldn't move. It was as if someone had super glued my shoes to the floor. I just couldn't move.

"Tess…" Chris took a few steps towards me.

I finally felt my body come back to me as the hurt dug deeper into me. As Chris stepped closer towards me, I shot out of the room. I couldn't stay there. I couldn't look at him, or her. I felt as if I was going to die, and I would never give him the satisfaction in seeing that.

"Tess! Please!" Chris shot out of the room after me.

I ran around a corner, ignoring anyone who I passed. I heard Chris jogging after me, making me run harder. But I soon found a roadblock in my way.

"What did I say about the bumping into me thing? Tess? What's wrong?" AJ caught me in his arms as I bumped into him and almost fell back from the impact.

I looked up at him, allowing him to see my tear stained face. I then looked behind me, seeing Chris turning into the hallway. AJ caught my glance and his face grew cold.

"What did he do Tess?" he asked me.

"He…I saw him and her…" my voice broke off as more tears fell.

AJ must have somehow understood what I was trying to say because he brought me closer and glared dangerously at Chris who had stopped in front of us. I held onto AJ's shirt for dear life, not able to look over at Chris, whose eyes were on me.

"You fucking bastard." AJ seethed.

"Stay out of this Styles. This doesn't concern you." Chris shot at him.

"You cheated on my best friend. That does concern me." AJ's eyes burned in rage. "If Tess wasn't here right now, I'd probably kick the living hell out of you."

"I'd like to see you try." Chris glared at him.

"Why don't you just go find whoever it was you were doing and fuck her? Stay away from Tess Daniels. Or you'll regret it." AJ threatened.

I heard Chris mutter a few curses before he walked off. Once he was gone, AJ lifted my chin to look at him.

"I'm so sorry T." he told me sympathetically.

All I could do in return was cry harder.

* * *

POV OFF

* * *

"I'm going to kill him." Jay cracked his knuckles as he looked at Tess' closed bedroom door.

"I told you he was going to hurt her eventually. He has a knack for doing that." AJ commented beside him.

Jay sighed before turning to AJ. "Alright, I was wrong. I just thought he'd change."

AJ ran a hand through his short hair. "I think we all did."

"I just can't believe it." Jeff stated. "They were so happy. She was so happy."

"And that bastard ruined it." Jay's face grew dark. "I'm going to kill him."

"We all are." Jeff agreed.

"Speaking of all of us, where are Terry, Ray, and Devon?" AJ asked.

Jay smirked at AJ. "Beginning the process."

AJ raised an eyebrow and grinned. "No fair, I wanted to be the first."

"Sorry kid." Terry stated from behind them. "Older first."

"So…" Jeff and the other two walked into the living room where Ray and Devon had just entered. "How'd it go?"

Terry grinned and cracked his knuckles. "Lets just say he's going to reconsider ever cheating on anyone ever again."

"That bad then?" Jay laughed.

"No one messes with our McMahon." Ray stated.

"This might sound awful, but I have an urge to tell our good friends from WWE about this. See what kind of damage they could conjure up." Devon snickered.

"Well whatever you do, don't tell John. He'd flip a lid." Jay sat beside Ray. "Literally would too."

"Paul would find the nearest Sledgehammer and come running." Jeff nodded.

"And everyone else would have their weapon of choice. It'd be like one of those mobs from the good old days." Ray chuckled.

"I can see it now." Terry smirked and sat.

The guys laughed before looking at the hallway where voices were coming from.

"How is she?" AJ asked Carrie.

Carrie sighed. "Really bad. She's going home for the next two weeks. She said she just needs to be alone right now."

AJ nodded. "Makes sense. Can I see her?"

"I wouldn't suggest it. She really doesn't want to see anyone from the male race at the moment other than Terry."

Terry's shot up from the couch and headed into the hall.

"She wants to see me?" he asked, nodding towards the door.

Carrie nodded. "She wants you to drive her to the airport."

Terry nodded and walked towards the door.

"Oh, and just to warn you, she's pretty heart broken." Carrie called to him before he entered Tess' room.

That was an understatement. On top of Tess' bed was a suitcase packed and ready to go. Not seeing Tess lying there, his glance fell on the window seat. There she sat, knees up to her chest, head resting on her knees while looking out the window. It broke his heart at seeing her like this. She was almost like a daughter to the man, as he had known her the longest between the men out in the other room. Seeing her like this, it made him want to break every single bone in Daniels' body ten times over. The pain he felt today wouldn't even compare to the pain he was going to feel in the short future. Every single friend of Tess would want a piece of the bastard. And if he knew one thing, she had a lot of friends.

* * *

"Has she told you anything since she got here?" Paul sat beside Shane in the McMahon kitchen.

Shane shook his head. "Nothing. She looks so upset. I don't want to pry though. It has to be on her own time."

"I just wish we knew what was wrong." Paul sighed and rubbed his temples.

Shane nodded. "How's Steph doing?"

"She wants to see Tess." Paul answered. "But the doctor ordered her to bed rest as the baby's almost here."

"Although Tess and I were always closer, she and Steph always had that sisterly connection. Never really understood it." Shane commented.

"We don't understand anything to do with women." Paul said with a small smile.

"That's true." Shane chuckled before the doorbell rang. "I better go get that."

Paul nodded as Shane stood and walked towards the front of the rather large house.

"Hey Shawn." Shane grinned in greeting.

"Is she alright?" Shawn stepped into the all too familiar house and looked around, trying to see if he could see Tess anywhere.

"She's been in her room since we brought her home." Shane sighed. "Do you wanna try talking to her?"

"Might as well." Shawn nodded and headed towards the stairs. "Same one as always."

"Unless she moved her room without us knowing." Shane nodded in amusement.

Shawn rolled his eyes before walking up the two flights of stairs before reaching Tess bedroom on the second floor. He listened closely, trying to figure out what she was doing. But all he heard was the soft music protruding from her room. He raised an eyebrow before knocking softly on the door, noticing the group she was listening to was Evanescence.

"Tess? It's Shawn. I heard you came back home for a few weeks. Just thought I'd come over and see ya." He said through the door.

To Shawn's surprise, the door immediately opened, allowing him to see a tear stained Tess.

"Hi Shawn." She greeted him, leaving the door open and walking back towards her bed, which she sat down on.

Shawn looked around for a moment before entering the room and closing the door behind him. He remembered the many times he did the exact same thing years ago. It was always the same. Whenever something happened, Shawn always somehow was the only one who could find out what it was. No one knew why, it was just the way of life.

"So why are you back Tess?" Shawn asked cautiously as he pulled up a chair in front of her

She shrugged and looking down at her bedspread. Shawn though for a moment, trying to figure out a way of doing this without hurting her.

"Is there anything you wanna talk about?" he asked her.

She once again shrugged.

"Is everything in TNA alright?"

"I guess." Her small voice answered this time.

"How are your friends?"

"Good." She stated.

"Chris?"

That's when her bottom lip began to tremble. Shawn knew he struck a nerve, which meant that this is what was wrong. Whatever he did, Shawn knew it wasn't good. Anger began to fall over him before asking his next question.

"What happened kid?" he asked.

Tess' eyes remained on the comforter for a moment before looking up at Shawn. His eyes were warm, encouraging her to talk to him. Like all the other many times, she felt herself give in to it. She always knew she could trust Shawn. She had known him for way to long to not be able to.

"He-I caught him cheating on me." She told him softly.

Shawn's mouth fell open in shock. Of all the things he was thinking, that was not one of them. He thought it would have just been a fight. Or maybe they broke up. But this was worse. She was just cheated on by the man she loved. That hurt too deep to forget.

"Oh Tess, I'm so sorry." Shawn moved so he was sitting beside her, Tess in his arms.

"It hurts so much Shawn." Tears sprung to her eyes.

"I know sweetie." Shawn held her close. "How long has it been going on."

"I don't know. After his match at the last taping yesterday I went into our locker room and I found him and Danger going at it." She explained through small sobs.

Shawn closed his eyes, wishing he could take away the pain. "I'm sorry hunny. I wish I could make this better for you."

"Me too. It just hurts so much. It feels like nothing will be okay ever again. I never want to go back there."

"But you have to. What about your friends? And you're the champion, that's something." He rubbed her back soothingly.

"But I don' want to see him. I have to feud against him. How am I supposed to do that if I'm always going to remember that he cheated on me?" she asked him.

"Well, normally I wouldn't say this. But turn the hurt into hate. If you're going to feud with him, use this as a booster to help with it. It'll be easier to feud against him if you hate him." Shawn told her.

"But..." she trailed off.

"This going to hurt for awhile. We both know that. It's going to take time for you to get over this. It'll take time to wash away the memories of what he did. But eventually, one day, you'll find someone else. If something like this happened, then you and he aren't meant to be together."

"I guess." She sniffed.

"Look..." Shawn raised her chin so she was looking at him. "You can either stay up here for the next few weeks, feeling all depressed and sorry for yourself. Or you can come downstairs with me and hang with your brother and Paul. And why don't we all go out tonight. I'm sure the boys would love to see you. Both raw and smackdown are in town this week for a few shows."

Tess looked at him before nodding slowly. "I guess."

"Good." He smiled at her. "I'll let you wash up and then meet us downstairs alright? You know your brother and Paul hate seeing you like this."

* * *

**A/N: grrr...stupid Chris for cheating on her! at least her friends are there for her. **

**What do you think's going to happen in TNA now that this has happened?**

**and what about all the stuff thats happened alright? the tape...Team Canada...Alex...Punk...Jarrett...so many things...lol**


	60. Chapter Fifty Nine

**Chapter Fifty-Nine:**

I looked myself over in the mirror only minutes before Shawn and Paul were going to drag me out to the nearest club with the others. I felt like telling them I was sick, just so I wouldn't have to go. I didn't want to be around everyone, pretending to be happy, pretending to be having a good time. All I wanted was to stay in this room of mine and sulk for the next few weeks. But I knew Shawn would become disappointed in me if I did that. As well as my father would start to wonder what was wrong, making Shawn to tell the truth to my family. If that happened, I knew of what would happen. And it wouldn't be pretty. Although I was hurt beyond belief and angry to a large extent, I didn't want my father to do what he usually does and cause havoc. All I wanted was for everyone to leave this situation alone and to let me deal with it in my own way.

"Hey Tess, you almost ready in there?" Paul knocked on my door.

I sighed. I knew that would never happen. If I stayed back in Florida I would have all of those guys on my case. And even here, I would have my family and everyone else to deal with. I should have planned a nice vacation to a deserted island, that would have surely of given me some peace.

"Tess?" Paul asked.

"I'm coming." I told him finally, glancing at myself again.

Although I wore a bright yellow shirt and faded bright jeans, I felt anything but bright and cheery. I really had the urge to hate Shawn for making me do this when all I really wanted was to sulk all night.

"Better hurry up sis, Paul is getting antsy." Shane's voice came through the door.

I growled softly before grabbing my leather jacket from my bed and walking towards the bedroom door. I slowly opened the door, showing the grinning faces of my brother and brother in law. As hard as it was for me to think, their smiles disgusted me.

"You two can stop with the pestering." I grumbled and walked past them.

"I thought you were all happy since Shawn talked to you?" Shane caught up to me as I was walking down the stairs.

"I'm a great actress." I shot at me before hitting the bottom floor.

"Just leave her be." Paul told Shane quietly from behind me.

I rolled my eyes before the doorbell rang. I instantly opened it and frowned as Shawn walked in.

"How are you doing?" he asked, a smile on his face.

I shrugged.

"What happened?" he caught onto my mood.

"Do I have to go tonight?" I asked him.

"We talked about this Tess." Shawn put an arm around my shoulders, leading me onto the porch outside.

"I know." I sighed. "I just can't do it. I can't pretend to be happy around everyone. I can't fake it. Its too hard."

"Then why don't you tell them? They'll understand. It might be good to have some friends around to help you through this." Shawn insisted.

"But…"I trailed off.

"Tess." Shawn grabbed my chin. "Trust me."

I sighed. I hated disappointing Shawn, I really did. But I also didn't want help from everyone. I didn't want to tell them about what happened. I just wanted to be left alone.

"I cant."

"Yes you can Tess." Shawn sighed. "But I wont force you to go if you don't want to."

"Really?" I looked at him surprised.

He shook his head. "I can't make you do something. But I just want you to know, you will miss seeing someone who flew all this way just for you after Jay told him about what happened. He's going to be pretty heartbroken to see you not there."

I raised an eyebrow. "Who?"

"Just someone you haven't seen in a bit."

"Who?" I repeated.

"Someone who left right before you did." He answered.

I racked my brain for ideas. Finally, one hit.

"Jerky!" my eyed widened at the prospect of seeing Chris Jericho again.

"Yeah." He nodded. "But I guess I'll tell him you weren't feeling well."

I shook my head. Although I didn't feel like seeing everyone, I did feel like seeing Chris. That guy always knew just the right things to say and do whenever I was hurt and down.

"Oh no…I'm going." I pulled Shawn's arm towards his car. "Why didn't you say he was going in the first place? It would have saved from all of this happening."

"Didn't cross my mind." He smirked as I jumped into the back seat.

Shawn slowly ducked down into the drivers seat and buckled in. I meanwhile frowned as I saw Paul moving ultra slow towards the car.

"Shawn, can you honk the horn at him?" I asked desperately.

"Well that's not nice." He chuckled.

"I don't care. I wanna see Jerky before I turn 40!" I exclaimed.

He rolled his eyes before doing what I asked. Paul jumped, quite possibly, higher than I had ever seen him do so before. I broke into unexpected laughter as Paul glared at us and hurried into the car.

* * *

"Where is he?" I looked around the club, trying to see Chris.

"He'll be here don't worry." Matt rolled his eyes.

"Hey, I'm a desperate girl here." I stuck my tongue out at him.

"Pretty desperate for someone who just got cheated on." Adam stated from the side.

My face whipped towards him as I saw him for the first time in a long one. I jumped at him, causing him to stumble, though not to fall over. It was halfway through the hug that I realized what he had said.

"He cheated on you?" Matt asked from behind.

I let go of Adam, hit him on the arm and slowly turned towards Matt, as well as Benoit and John who had joined us.

"Ah…" I thought of something to say.

"Oh I'm going to kill that boy!" John's face grew dark. "I call him first."

"Terry already got the first round, sorry boys."

"JERKY!" I exclaimed, jumping at Chris, this time making him fall.

"Ow Tess, that hurt." He pouted before giving me his traditional Jericho smirk. "I know you like me, but really, couldn't you have waited until we were alone to get in this position."

My face flushed as I immediately got off of him and offered him a hand. He graciously took it and stood beside me. Once he was up and I hugged him tightly as if my life depended on it.

"I'm so happy to see you." I told him with a smile.

"See what I don't get is why your smiling when the person you loved broke your heart?" Chris scratched the back of his head.

My face fell. This again.

"Could we not talk about that."

"Sorry T, we're gonna. I didn't fly all this way for nothing. Oh no, you, me, patio now." He grabbed her hand and dragged her towards the empty patio of the club they were in.

I sighed as I leant against the railing and looked down.

"So…" Chris leant beside me, crossing his arms and cocking his head to one side. "Want to tell me what all happened."

"No." I frowned.

"I'm going to get it out of you eventually. Might as well just tell me now." He insisted.

"Why do people keep trying to help me?" I asked, a touch angry. "I don't want help. I don't ant to talk. I don't want to fake being happy. Hell I don't even want to be happy. All I really want is to deal with this the way I'm good at."

Chris, a bit shocked at my outbreak, fell silent. But like the Jericho we all knew, it didn't last long. He sharply grabbed my chin, not letting my head fall, and stepped in front of me.

"Look Tess, I know what its like to get your heart ripped out of your chest, piece by piece. It's the worst feeling in the world. Damn, its nothing compared to the most extreme, hardcore, wrestling match out there. It cuts deeper than that. Its hard to get over, its hard to deal with. But you eventually do. And record shows, its a lot easier if you just start dealing with this now. I'm not trying to sound mean or anything, but wake up Tess. Daniels cheated on you. Face the fact. I know you know it. So just deal. See it as a new way to gain anger to kick Jarrett's ass. Use this as a way to help yourself in the future. I don't care what you do Tess, but get out of the sulking stage. It's only been a day, but its time to face this head on. Running away from the problem isn't going to solve anything. If anything, it makes it a lot harder to deal with. So I want you to go back there, find Daniels, and give him one hell of a slap, punch, kick in the balls, I don't care. Just hurt him, and then get over it."

* * *

POV OFF

* * *

Chris watched Tess intently as she just stood there, looking at him. Finally, tears spurted to her eyes and her bottom lip trembled. He knew he had to say what he did. Someone had to say that to her. He didn't want to hurt her, or add anymore hurt on, but she had to hear it. Though the small part of his heart that loved the woman, felt bad for making her this upset.

"Tess, don't cry. Its only the truth." He sighed and dropped his hand.

Her teeth clattered as she tried to keep her cries silent. She didn't want to cry in front of everyone right now.

"Come here." He grabbed her arms and brought her into a tight hug.

Tess held on to him tightly as the tears fell and her attempts at the silent cries failed.

* * *

_Back in Orlando_

* * *

"What's the big deal Chris?" Allison rolled her eyes and stood in front of the ring in the gym they were currently occupying.

Chris narrowed his eyes and glared down at her.

"What's the big deal? What the hell do you think is the big deal!" He shouted.

"Chris, calm down will ya." Allison looked around at the few people in the gym who were looking at them.

"I'm not going to calm down Allie!" he glared.

"Why not? Don't get all mad at me for nothing." She defended, putting her brown hair behind her ear.

Chris grabbed her by the arm and pushed her up against the ring.

"You fucking come in to TNA, and then ruin the best relationship I've ever had. That's why I should be fucking mad at you right now Allie." He seethed.

"Hey, it takes two to kiss." She shrugged.

"You pushed me down onto the bench, you straddled me, and you kissed me. I tried to stop you. I tried pushing you off."

"You can't deny we had something special Chris." She moved his hand off her arm.

"We had something special. Key word, had. I'm with Tess now. I love her. I wouldn't do anything to hurt her."

"Too late." Allison smirked up at him. "Tess hates you, all her friends want to kill you. Do you really think you're going to be able to fix this one?"

"I'll damn well try." He stated.

"Good luck. But it would be much easier if you just got back together with me." She trailed a finger down Chris' bare chest.

Chris pushed her finger away and gave her a death glare. "I'll never get back together with you Allison. We might have to work together, but I'll never love you again."

"Think what you will. But you know your heart still wants me." She smiled up at him before pushing herself away from the ring. "I'll leave you to your training. But if you want some company, you know my number."

"I won't want your company Allison." Chris told her as she brushed past him.

Allison shot him one last smile. "For now."

Chris clutched his fists together as Allison walked out of the gym. What Chris didn't know, nor did Allison, was that Alex was back at his spying, and had just caught everything on tape.

* * *

**A/N: YAY! Chris is innocent in all this...but whats going to happen about Chris and Tess? will their relationship be able to fix itself, or will they just stay apart? only time will tell.**

**oh and i decided to add a certain canadian coughchrisjerichocough into the mix...felt like it need a bit of jericho in it lol. anyways, hope you enjoyed. more to come soon**


	61. Chapter Sixty

**Chapter Sixty:**

"Are you sure you're alright enough to go in there?" AJ looked over at me as we stood in front of the backstage entrance into the arena the day of Lockdown.

I looked at the door. Half of me truthfully wanted to run away and hide like a little girl. But another half of me wanted to walk through those doors and let Daniels know that he wasn't going to break my spirits by what he did. I slowly nodded and sighed before going for the door handle and opening the slate gray door. I felt AJ's eyes on me as we walked into the building.

"Could you stop that?" I turned to him in annoyance.

"What?" he asked.

"Staring at me. It's a bit annoying." She sighed.

AJ smirked. "Sorry."

"No your not. Why am I friends with you again." I rolled my eyes and turned back around.

As I did, my face paled as Chris began walking towards us. AJ looked to where I was and immediately stood in front of me, rage trickling his eyes.

"Fuck off Daniels." AJ seethed.

"I need to talk to her Styles." Chris glared at him.

"You don't deserve to." AJ took a step forward.

"I didn't do anything." Chris defended himself.

AJ snapped and grabbed Chris by the collar of his shirt and pinned him to the wall.

"You cheated on her, how the hell can you stand there and say you didn't do anything?" AJ's eyes glared in rage.

"I swear. She kissed me. I was trying to get her off me. I love Tess. I wouldn't cheat on her. That's just low." Chris stated.

"Likely story. It takes two to kiss." Alex pushed him harder into the wall.

"I'm telling the damn truth Styles. I didn't kiss her. She came on to me. I was just standing in the locker room with her, talking, and then she just pushed me down onto the bench. Before I could stop her, she was on top of me and kissing me. I tried to get her off, and finally did. But that was when Tess came in."

My heart, if it was even possible, twisted at this. I didn't know what to believe. It was so easy to lie about that. Chris could easily be lying that he didn't do anything. But I so wanted to believe that he was telling the truth.

"He's telling the truth." Alex's voice joined into the conversation.

I looked to my side as Alex stepped up beside me. I looked at him quizzically before he explained.

"I was in the gym where Chris and Danger were fighting. I have it on tape if you want proof. But Chris is telling the truth." Alex stated.

"What?" AJ looked over in surprise.

Alex shrugged. "You can look at it if you don't believe me." He held out his camera.

As if the kid in AJ came alive, he let go of Chris and grabbed at the camera. Alex rolled his eyes before taking it back.

"You're going to wreck it geez." He rolled his eyes before turning to me. "And anyways, you should see it first."

I looked him in the eye. Although I didn't know Alex all that much, I had a feeling as if he wasn't lying about any of this. It was oddly enough comforting.

"Come on, we should do this in privacy." Alex ushered us into his locker room, which was only a few doors away.

Once in the room, door closed and locked, Alex made his way over to the TV in the room and began to hook up the camera to the TV. I stood farther into the room and tried to avoid looking at Chris. I could feel his eyes boring into me. Although apparently what he had said was true, I had to see it before I believed it fully.

"Everyone ready?" Alex looked behind at us.

"Hurry it up already." AJ replied gruffly, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

Alex raised an eyebrow but pressed play anyways.

* * *

I fell down onto a bench as the video faded to black. I still couldn't believe what I had seen only seconds ago. He really didn't do anything. He really did still love me. But where did that leave us? Was I able to just get over this that easily? He hurt me a lot. That I knew. But could it really register if it was all a lie after all? Could the hurt actually be there if Chris hadn't cheat on me in the long run? I put my head in my hands as a headache began to come on. There were too many things happening at once. One minute I wanted to forget all about my relationship had ever existed, and then the next, I still loved him.

"Tess..." Chris began to walk over to me.

I raised my head and shook my head. Hurt fell across his face.

"I have to think." I told him before standing up and leaving the room.

I didn't know that to think anymore. I wanted to forgive him so much. I just wanted it back to how it was. But could I really go back? Sure it wasn't what it had seemed, but could I forget all about this? It seemed too easy to me. How could I forget something like this when it hurt so badly?

"You know, running into people isn't a good habit to continue." Punk's voice dragged me out of my thoughts.

"Sorry." I blushed and looked up to see that I had indeed bumped into the man.

"Everything all right?" he noticed the look on my face.

"Not entirely." I shook my head.

"What's wrong?" he questioned.

I sighed. "A lot."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"I don't know." I shrugged.

He looked at me for a minute before grabbing my upper arm softly and brought me into an empty locker room.

"Talk to me." He encouraged.

I sighed and sat down on a near by bench.

"Chris cheated on me."

"What!" Punk exclaimed.

"Let me finish will you." I glared up at him.

He nodded.

"Well, I thought he did anyways. But then I come here today, and Chris is trying to tell me that he didn't do anything, that Allison was the one to kiss him."

"And you believed him?" Punk sat beside me on the bench.

"Well at first I didn't. But then Alex comes and says he has it on tape. He just showed me and AJ it." I sighed as I finished.

"Interesting." He mused.

"I'm surprised you ever had to have me tell you what was wrong." I stated.

"What?" he looked at me confused.

"What happened to the whole 'I know you' thing?" I raised an eyebrow and cocked my head to the side.

"Some things you can't know about people." He defended.

"Yet I still don't get how you know that I love the rain. No one knows that." I stood and crossed my arms.

"I just know things that others don't." Punk rose to his feet, towering over me.

"Uh huh." I narrowed my eyes. "And how do you find these things out?"

"I have my resources. Your father told me a lot." He shrugged in defense.

"My father doesn't know that I love the rain as much as I do."

"Can't you just leave this subject alone?" Punk sighed.

"No I really can't. Just tell me how you know all of this."

"Look, I really can't tell you. Just be happy I'm here. I am the one who saved your ass about a million times." He began to walk towards the door.

"I never told you to go about saving me." I said to him. "If it doesn't matter, then why wont you just tell me?"

"Because its really none of your business Tess." Punk opened the door and looked at me. "Are we going to move or what?"

"Don't tell me what to do." I shot at him, but obliged anyways.

"It worked didn't it?" he raised an eyebrow.

I stopped for a moment before walking out of the room.

"Now about tonight…" he began.

"How about you go out there, and get your ass kicked." I turned to him a glare on my face.

"We're supposed to work together here."

"I'll work nicely with you, if you tell me how you know so much about me." I stated.

"No." he narrowed his own eyes.

I crossed my arms. "Fine, then I won't play nice."

"Works fine for me."

"Uh huh." I rolled my eyes. "Whatever. I'm going to go."

"Don't forget about helping me tonight." He shouted at me.

I gave him the finger before turning the corner.

"Tess." Chris voice came at me.

I sighed and hit myself for coming down the same hallway that his room was in.

"Could we talk?" he asked.

"I said I have to think Chris." I told him.

"I know, but please?" he pleaded.

Looking at that look on his face, I couldn't refuse. I suppose I still had that soft place in my heart for him.

"Fine." I nodded.

A small smile fell on his face as softly took my hand and brought me into the locker room. I quietly sat down on my usual bench and waited for Chris to talk. He began to pace, trying to figure out what to say.

"You brought me in here to talk, so hurry it up." I glanced down at my watch.

Chris stopped and nodded.

"I'm sorry. For everything. I know I hurt you. I'm amazingly sorry. I never wanted for that to happen." He began. "You have to believe that tape, I wouldn't cheat on you. I wouldn't do something like that. I know I can be a cold-hearted bastard at times, but I'm not that horrible. That's something Jarrett would do, not me. If I could go back, I would find a way to make sure it would never happen again."

"Do you still love her?" I asked him.

"Allison?" he asked surprised.

I nodded.

"No. I haven't for a long time. And I never will again. I love you Tess, not her. I love you more than I ever loved her."

I sat there, trying to figure out something to say.

"We can't just go back and forget this never happened." I blurted out.

"I know." He walked over and knelt before me. "But can we at least try to work this out."

"I don't know Chris." I sighed.

"I don't expect this to be easy for me. But I would like to work this out. I love you, and I really don't want to lose you." Chris pleaded with me.

"I really don't know." I tried to look away from him. "I want to just forget any of this happened. But it's so hard. I really got hurt."

"I know, and I'm sorry."

"Look, give me to after lockdown to think alright? Then maybe we can go talk." I suggested.

Chris nodded. "I can live with that." He stood. "I really am sorry."

"I know." I stood as well. "Just give me time."

* * *

**A/N: well Punk is being a bit of a prick...but on a happier note, Tess and Chris look to be alright...for now...you never know what the future holds**


	62. Chapter Sixty One

**Chapter Sixty-One**:

"You're not going to talk to me are you?" Punk raised an eyebrow at me as he waited at the tunnel for his cue to go on for his match against Chris.

I ignored him and kept my glance at the monitor. My rage grew as I saw Allison stand in that ring with Chris. I wanted to go out there right now and rip her to a million pieces. But I knew I couldn't. Now at least. I had to wait. Even if it was for only 10, 15 minutes.

"Fine. Just don't forget to come down to help me." He sighed and pushed himself off the wall as his entrance music began playing.

I waved at him with my back turned, not really hearing him at all. I heard him sigh behind me before he walked up the tunnel. I watched on the monitor as the fans looked up at Punk in shock and surprise, including even Chris. I suppose he never really did know the mystery man was Punk all this time. Something that will come to a shock to him when he finds out. And I had a feeling he would.

* * *

POV OFF

* * *

"Your winner of the match, in his return match to TNA, CM Punk!" Jeremy Borash announced to the fans.

The crowd screamed in delight. Although they loved Chris, they were happy Punk had finally decided to return to the company. Although, there were some that hated the idea of Punk winning. He would be the one who just lost the match against him. Chris was furious. To him, Punk just waltzed back in there, and won in his ring, against him. He was too angry to speak. So instead, he gave Allison a gesture with his finger as Punk began to crawl through the ropes to exit the caged in ring. Before he could though, Allison came over and hit him square over the head with a steel chair. Boos ruptured through the arena as Allison smirked and threw the chair up to Chris, who was now strangling Punk on the ropes. The ref tried to stop him from the outside, but Allison just ran him off. It seemed like nothing could stop this ever-growing assault on the man. The two were now in the ring, kicking the hell out of the bloodied Punk, leaving him only half conscious to what was happening around him. Thankfully, someone finally decided to stop this. But to much confusion, the music that played through the speakers was that of Tess. Chris looked up in surprise as seeing her running down the heel ramp and towards the ring. He never expected her to come out to help Punk. Or at least, that was what he was thinking she was here for. What else could she want? That answer was easily answered as Allison went to jump over the ropes in an aerial dive towards Tess, but was hit in mid air by an identical steel chair to the one used earlier on Punk. The fans cried out in glee at seeing this, and began chanting the ever so popular chants. Tess smirked as she starred at Allison lying motionless on the ground. Although she knew she had a job to do to help Punk, she couldn't help but hit Allison a few more times with the chair, wanting to inflict the same pain that had been inflicted on her.

Finally after a few more shots at her, Tess looked up at the shocked Chris. A small rush of guilt fell through her as she saw the look in his eyes. But she quickly shrugged it off and smirked up at him. She had a job to do. They both knew it. It wasn't meant to be personal. Yet Chris, he still took it to be so.

"What the hell?" Chris looked at her in ridicule as she slipped into the ring, chair still in hand.

Tess smirked; looking behind him as Punk slowly drew to his feet. She lifted the chair, distracting him as he stumbled backwards, and right into Punk. He hit him in the side of his head, sending Chris down to his knees. Punk then looked at Tess before running to the ropes, bouncing off them and delivering a shining wizard to Chris. Once he was down, Tess walked over to Punk, who in turn put an arm around her. They stared down at Chris body before leaving the ring.

* * *

POV ON

* * *

"How's your head?" I looked at Punk as a trainer stitched his forehead up.

"Hurts like hell." He mumbled, glaring up at the trainer.

"I bet." I mused.

"You weren't supposed to kick the living hell out of Danger you know. You were just supposed to help. Which you could have done before the match ended." His glare now fell on her as the trainer said he was finished and walked off.

I raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me? I still went out there and helped you. I could have just screwed you over and let Chris and Allison kick the living hell out of you. But I didn't. And for the Allison thing, I really don't see a reason why I shouldn't have done that."

He narrowed his eyes and jumped down from the bed. "You need to learn how to control your emotions better."

"I really don't see a need in that." I shrugged, noticing her staggered as he walked. "You should be careful."

"I'm fine." He growled.

"You don't look fine." I grabbed onto his arm as he began to sway in the other direction.

"I'm fine." Punk repeated, forcing his arm out of my grasp.

"Why are you so grouchy?" I sighed and glared up at him.

"You." He answered simply.

"What did I do."

"You're the one…just forget it." He shook his head and left the room.

I bit my lip, fighting back curses, before I ran after him. I soon wished I didn't as I met up with him right as he bumped into Chris.

"So why the hell are you here Punk." Chris demanded.

"Trying to right a wrong. No but really, I just want to see you go down." Punk smirked.

Chris narrowed his eyes before noticing me behind him. I bowed my head, not wanting to look at him.

"So he's the one your managing now?" he asked, his tone a bit softer towards me.

"Yeah." I nodded.

"Hurt her and I'll kill you." Chris now stepped towards Punk in a threat.

"Hey now, shouldn't I be worried about you hurting her? You seem to have a knack for it." Punk continued to smirk, not backing down to him.

"I didn't cheat on her." He seethed through clenched teeth.

"No, but you still hurt her." Punk shrugged. "And what about all those times you weren't there to protect her? Huh? She got hurt, and her boyfriend wasn't even there to stop it. Wouldn't that just cut her heart into pieces knowing her own boyfriend doesn't care about her."

Chris pushed Punk up against the wall. "Don't you fucking well talk about things you know nothing about."

"Really? Well, I sort of do, as I was the one to help her in the times that you were nowhere to be seen." Punk smirked at him cruelly.

"What are you talking about." Chris pushed him harder against the wall.

"He's the mystery man." I spoke up, surprising myself.

Chris, shocked, stepped back from Punk. His eyes flashed from Punk to me, not knowing what to think.

"What?"

"That's right Chrissy. I'm your girlfriend's mystery man. Change your thoughts of me?"

"Not a chance." Chris glared at him.

"Not surprised. You never were good at being friendly." Punk mused.

"Shut up." Chris went to throw a punch at him.

Having just about enough of their childish ways, I sidestepped in front of Punk. Chris immediately dropped his fist, but shot me a hurt look.

"Stop fighting. Please. You're acting like two three year olds. Just grow up. I'm really tired of all this fighting." I glared at the two men before moving away from them.

"Where are you going?" Chris asked.

"Somewhere where you two aren't." I mumbled.

* * *

"I still don't get it." Ray scratched the back of his head. "So he didn't cheat on you?"

"No." I shook my head.

"Alright, so does this mean we can't kill him?" Jay frowned.

"Yes." I rolled my eyes.

"I never get to do anything cool." He pouted.

"Poor you." I slapped him over the head. "Just be happy."

"So are you two going to get back together then?" Terry questioned.

I thought for a moment. I truly wasn't sure. Yes, he didn't cheat on me. But I still couldn't help but hold doubts. I would forever remember this in the back of my mind every time Chris and I would be together. Could I continue a relationship with the man who I've been through so much with?

"I don't know." I told them. "We're talking later. So I guess after that we'll figure it out."

"I don't think you should go back to him." AJ piped up.

"What?" we all looked at him confused.

"Well…" he shrugged. "He hurt you more than just this one time. And I've known him longer than all of you. He's not one to be like this. I don't think this nice front will stay very long."

"You never know." Jay shot him a look.

"I'm just saying what I think. There's no law about that." AJ glared back.

"Whatever is going on between you two, could you cut it out. I just got away from two little kids fighting as if they were on a schoolyard. I really don't want my two best friends doing the same thing." I warned them.

"Sorry." They mumbled in unison.

"So did anyone else know that Punk was the mystery guy?" Devon asked.

"Jeff and I knew." Jay nodded.

"Wait, how did you two know?"

"Remember that whole fight with Daniels before this happened? Well he brought her back home the day after the PPV." He informed.

"Oh." Terry frowned. "So how come no one told us?"

"Never slipped my mind." Jay stated.

"Sorry." I told them apologetically. "I guess so many things have happened lately that I totally forgot that you all didn't know."

"No harm done." Ray assured.

"Though I would like to know more about him. I haven't really heard much about the guy, except bad things." Devon mused.

"Those are all true." AJ stated.

"Did you know him?" I asked him.

"We worked together remember?"

"Right." I nodded. "So, anything we should know about him?"

"Don't trust him."

"What?" Jay looked confused.

"He and his partner betrayed Raven. Am I the only one who watched television?" Ray rolled his eyes.

"Yes." Terry stated. "So, he and Raven were friends?"

AJ nodded. "Yeah. 'Ravens Flock', or so they were all called. They betrayed him one night during the weekly PPV's. Shocked everyone. They were all so close. But I guess we all know more about that than most."

I nodded, understanding it more than I probably should.

"That isn't all is it?" Jay asked.

"Not really. Mainly the trusting part. But there's a whole lot more. Not really sure how you got mixed up with him. But my advice, find a way out. You don't want to mix with him. Believe me." AJ advised.

"You think the same for Chris though. So we really can't believe that now can we?" Jay stated.

"Hey, I know what I'm talking about." AJ glared.

"Stop you two." I glared between them.

"Sorry."

"Now I have a question."

"Shoot." Terry looked at me.

"Where's Raven?"

* * *

**A/N: so more doubts about Punk arising. i wonder what will happen when she goes to see Raven.**

**and personally, i'm a bit worried. we havent heard from our favourite person to hate, jarrett, lately. god only knows what he's doing. lol**


	63. Chapter Sixty Two

**Chapter Sixty-Two:**

"Are you sure about this?" Terry looked down at me as we stood in front of Raven's locker room.

"I need to know more stuff on Punk. He's really the only source. As much as its going to be hard. I have to try to get him to tell me. And anyways, I wanna try to make things all right between the two of us. He was always a good friend. I've missed him." I told him truthfully.

Terry nodded. "Alright. I'll leave you here then. Good luck."

"Thanks. I'll see you later." I smiled at him.

"Yeah." He nodded before turning back down the hall.

I looked at the door and sighed. This was going to be one hell of a challenge. Not only did Raven and I hurt one another, but we did it in the worst ways. We pushed the right buttons, said the right things to hurt each other. We both were wrong. But right now, I had to be the bigger person and but it behind us. I needed Raven right now. And I wasn't about to let some stupid little fight stop me. So I inhaled sharply before knocking softly on the door in front of me.

"Go away." His gruff voice traveled from inside the room.

I opened my mouth to call at him, but I lost my voice. I sighed and just continued to knock, louder and louder until eventually, I was banging on the door.

"Go the hell away." He replied for sternly.

I answered his request with a few more bangs until I heard his feet hit the floor. I waited a few more seconds before the door was flown open.

"What the hell do you want?" Raven glared down at me.

From the intensity of the glare, I felt my eyes avert to the ground.

"I-I wanted to talk to you." I mumbled.

I was met with a door slam. My head snapped up, looking directly at the cold door. I sighed and knocked on the door again.

"Come on Raven, please?"

"Go away McMahon." He shouted back.

"Look I'm sorry for what I said. I wasn't myself."

Silence.

"Look, fine, don't take my apology. I just came to you for information on Punk. I know you saw his match against Chris."

"Go do whatever the hell you want." He returned.

"Please Raven? Look, ten minutes. That's all I ask. Just tell me everything I should know about him and then I'll leave you alone. I wont bug you again. Please?" I begged.

Silence.

"Raven?"

"Fine." He grumbled before opening the door and walking back to his dark corner.

I peered into the dimly lit room a bit hesitant before I gulped down any doubts I had and closed the door behind me.

* * *

"Hi sweetie. This is a pleasant surprise." My father greeted me over the phone. "How's the PPV going?"

"Pretty good." I stated. "How's everyone?"

"Good. Your sister is going stir crazy. I suspect she'll be having the baby any day now."

"That's great." I smiled before remembering why I was calling. "Could I ask you something?"

"Sure." My father agreed.

"Well, you didn't by chance hire CM Punk to watch over me did you?"

"That little punk kid. Oh no. I wouldn't trust anything in the hands of him. That's why we let him go months ago."

"What?" my ace paled.

"What's going on Tess?" my father questioned.

"Nothing…alright well do you remember at Against All Odds how that mystery came in a helped me with Jarrett?" I asked him.

"Briefly yes."

"Well about a month or so later, he showed himself and it turned out to be CM Punk. When I asked him why he was always around, helping me, he said you hired him to watch over me and in return, he could come back to TNA without the 90 days no complete clause." I informed him in on everything.

"I can tell you honestly I did no such thing. He had been causing havoc in OVW for months after we contracted him. After he pulled a stunt, it was the last draw and we let him go. You showed himself about a month ago you say?"

"Yeah." I said.

"Well his 90 days was up about a month ago."

"So he lied to me." I said more to myself than to my father.

"Do you want me to get to the bottom of this?" he offered.

"No. I'll figure this out. So you swear you had nothing to do with any of this?"

"I promise you I wouldn't. If I wanted someone to look after you, I would have gotten someone more trustworthy than Punk. From what I hear, he has a knack for betraying people."

"So I hear." I sighed.

"Are you sure you can handle this on your own sweetie?" he asked.

"Yeah dad." I assured him. "I've got this covered to a point."

"Be careful. Punk isn't someone who you can trust."

"I'll watch my back if that's what you mean. I do have immensely over protective friends don't I?"

"That is true." My father agreed.

"So I'll be careful. Thanks for the help dad. Really."

"I'm always a phone call away."

"Alright. I better go. Ray and Devon's match is up next." I told him.

"Alright. Call again soon Tess."

"I will. Oh and cal me when Steph is in labor."

"Will do. Love you."

"Love you too dad." I sighed before ending the phone conversation.

"Found out what you wanted?" Raven asked from the other side of his room.

"My father never hired Punk. He said they fired him months ago. When he showed himself, it was the day that his 90-day no complete clause was up. Which means either someone else hired Punk, or there's more to the story." I sighed.

"I could have told you that." He replied gruffly.

"Thanks." I shot at him with a glare.

He shrugged before nodding at the door. "You can go now."

"You're not going to get over our fight are you?" I stood up.

"No." he answered. "Go."

"I said I was sorry."

"Go." He repeated, more demanding.

"Raven, come on. You can't be this angry." I pleaded with him.

"I am. Go McMahon. I gave you what you wanted. I never said we'd forget what happened and just become friends. That wasn't part of the deal. You got what you wanted so go." He lifted a finger and pointed at the door.

"You hurt me too you know." I told him softly before obliging and leaving the room.

"You look like you just lost your best friend." Alex stated from his position leaning against the opposite wall.

I looked up as I closed the door.

"Well not best friend…" I trailed off. "Is the tag match up next?"

Alex nodded. "Yeah. Are you alright though?"

"Fine." I stated.

"Alright then. Wanna go watch from our spot?"

"Might as well. I need to think anyways." I agreed.

I felt Alex's glance at me, but I ignored it and walked ahead into the hallway we were in weeks ago, watching Impact.

"So this will be an interesting match. Team Canada versus James Gang versus Team 3D versus AMW. Who would have thought." Alex mused.

I raised an eyebrow. "Think AMW will win?"

"Depends. Canada has the rest of their team. If not AMW, I see Team CA winning. Sorry."

I shrugged, knowing he was referring to Ray and Devon. "They'll win the titles eventually. They aren't the best tag team to date for no reason you know."

"Oh I know." Alex grinned. "I remember watching them in ECW when I was a kid. Always thought they were my favorite. Would have been nice to actually have met them the proper way. But oh no, Jarrett just had to have me as his stalker guy."

"Why did you accept it anyways?" I asked him as the participants of the upcoming match began to enter the ring.

"Well the money was good." Ales shrugged.

"There's more to it though." I pestered.

Alex remained silent for a moment before sighing and nodding.

"Alright, well he kind of threatened me."

"What?" I asked in surprise.

"Yeah. Most people don't know that. He said that if I didn't do this for him, I wouldn't get a shot at any title again. That and he said he'd make my life a living hell. There's more, but I'd rather not go there." He frowned and looked down.

I nodded. "Bastard."

"He really is. That's why I'm doing this to them. Helping Scott out and everything. I know you don't like Team Canada, and I wouldn't blame you with how they treated you. But you have to know they never really wanted to do what they did."

I looked at him oddly, ignoring the starting bell for the match.

Alex looked over at me. "Jarrett told them he'd keep them in the dark, no chance at titles, no winning matches, or anything if they didn't do what he asked. Scott, always thinking of new ways to be the best, saw no other decision than to join Jarrett. All they wanted was to get their titles, they never wanted to actually terrorize you."

I fell silent in shock. That, I definitely wasn't expecting.

"Shocking isn't it?" Alex smiled. "Wait till you hear the best part."

"What?" I questioned.

"Can you keep a secret."

"Of course." I nodded quickly.

"Well…" Alex looked around before continuing. "Scott wants you in Team Canada."

"What!"

"Yeah I know. I overheard him telling Petey. Pretty big. He's had non Canadians in before, so it wouldn't really be a big deal."

"Jack Evans right?" I asked.

"Yeah." Alex nodded. "So they're planning a bunch of stuff to try to get you into Team Canada. Just thought I'd tell you."

"Why me?"

"Because you're the best female wrestler in this business. That and Scott's determined to get all the titles. They can't do that if they're missing the one you have. So they want you in. they can't go for Gail, as she's with Jarrett, and Traci is definitely taken. And Jackie wouldn't be good because she can't really wrestle. And you're the only other one. And word has it, Daniels isn't who you're managing anymore."

"That's true."

"So it'd be perfect." Alex grinned.

"Not really." I sighed.

"Why's that."

"Punk."

"What about him?"

"She's my manager." Punk smirked from the shadows.

Alex jumped off the crate we had been sitting on.

"Whoa, since when?" he asked.

"Since tonight." Punk stepped forward, looking directly at Alex with a creepy look in his eyes. "Why don't you run along Shelley, go stalk someone. I need to talk to Tess here."

Alex narrowed his eyes, standing his ground. "I was here first Punk. Go talk to her later. We're trying to watch a match here."

"I hear more talking than actual watching." Punk stood beside me.

I had a strong feeling of wanting to slap that look off of Punk's face, feeling it as a lie to everyone.

"So what." Alex stepped forward.

"Just get lost Shelley." Punk pushed him backwards.

Alex, surprised at the sudden physical contact, looked ready to pounce on Punk.

"Alex." I shook my head. "Go, I'll talk to you later."

"Are you sure?" he looked between Punk and I.

"Yeah." I nodded. "I have to talk to him anyways."

"Alright. If you need me, just holler." Alex told me before turning and walking down the hall.

Once he turned the corner I turned and shot a glare at Punk.

"What do you want?" I asked him gruffly.

"Planning on becoming friends with Team Canada are we?" he sidestepped the questioned and stepped in front of me, resting his hands on my bent knees.

I almost wanted to puke at his touch.

"I wasn't planning anything. Alex was just telling me those things." I defended.

"Sounded much more than that." His hands gripped onto my kneed harder.

I narrowed my eyes.

"What do you want Punk?"

"Wanted to make sure you weren't getting into trouble since we stomped off earlier." He stated.

"Really? I highly doubt that."

"I'm supposed to watch out for you remember. Its my job." He cocked his head to the side.

"No its not." I crossed my arms.

He raised an eyebrow and chuckled. "I think it is."

"Maybe for someone else, but your not doing this for my father." I stated.

"Yes I am Tess."

"I called him earlier. He said he never hired you. In fact, you were fired from OVW because of your behavior months ago. Seems the 90 day no complete clause was up around the same time you showed yourself to me." I jumped down from the crate.

I mentally hit myself for this, as Punk was now closer than I would have liked. I felt his breath on my skin as he looked down at me.

"Well your father is lying then." Punk insisted.

"My father doesn't lie to me. He never has." I glared up at him.

"First time for everything." He said.

"Or you just don't want to look like a liar. Why are you really doing this? Who are you really working for?"

"Oh, believe me Tess, you don't want to know that." Punk smirked.

"Wow, so you admit you lied? Only took how long? So who is this guy? Or is it a girl?" I questioned.

"Like I said." He bowed his head closer to my ear. "You don't want to know that."

"I think I do." I shuddered from his breath on my neck.

"Me."

My eyes widened as my eyes took in the real person who had hired Punk.

* * *

**A/N: whoa what a chapter.**

**first we find out that Punk wasn't hired by Vince**

**then we find out the real reason why Alex is working for Jarrett, as well as why Team Canada is.**

**then Tess is told that Team CA wants her in the team**

**and then...well, you know how the ending goes.**

**who can it be?**


	64. Chapter Sixty Three

**Chapter Sixty-Three:**

"Jarrett." I clenched my teeth.

"You tend to be a bit stupid McMahon." Jarrett smirked, for once completely alone.

"You bastard."

"Oh yes, that really hurts." Jarrett rolled his eyes.

"Although you are, I wasn't directing that at you." My glance went to Punk, who had now trapped me against the crate, his hands clamped to it on either side of me. "I can't believe you. Raven was right when he said you were a two timing betraying bastard."

"Words don't hurt me Tess." Punk whispered into my ear, sending shivers up my spine. "They only make hurting you, so much more fun."

"I don't get it. You kicked their asses. If you're working with them, what's the use of helping me?" I asked, slightly fearing the words Punk had just spoken.

"I'll explain that one." Jarrett stated, putting a hand on Punk's shoulder.

As if given a silent message, the smirking punk stepped back beside Jarrett.

"See, I needed a way to get inside your head. To play mind games. A way to see what hurts, to see what buttons I needed to push in order to get you out of my life forever. Since he had worked here before, I knew what he was capable off. I approached Punk a few months back and gave him this offer. He found it exciting, anyway to get at Raven. See apparently Punk knew about your friendship with him, and he wanted to get back at him. Unfortunately, your fight with him has stopped those plans for a bit." Jarrett frowned.

"Thankfully though, you went home, which meant that Punk was able to get some information on your personal life. Oh, say hi to Jericho for me after he comes out of the hospital will you?" he smirked at me.

I looked at him with wide eyes.

"Did someone forget to mention that? Oh, well let me explain that. See, Jericho is closer to you than your own brother. Hurt the family, and then your friends. All until you decide to leave out of guilt." Jarrett laughed cruelly.

"You fucking bastard." My fists clenched.

"Oh, but I haven't even come to the best part yet." Jarrett nodded at punk, who had now stepped back in font of me and put his hands on my hips. "I know everything you like, hate, your fears, your worries, all your friends, and everything you could possibly think of. I know it all."

Punk lifted his left hand and ran a finger up and down my side, sending me into shudders,

"And about Daniels. He won't come crawling back to you. I made sure of that. Apparently Punk here is a better information gatherer than Shelley. He was able to get, well, a few pieces of black mail that will keep Daniels within my grasp for quite some time. Expect a betrayal to happen soon. Very soon. On a happier note, for now you only have to deal with Punk and me. And I have to say, Punk seems to have a thing for you." Jarrett began to turn. "Just make sure she's in one piece when you're done."

With that, Jarrett walked down the hall, leaving me with Punk. My breathing broke as my heart raced. Punk continued to trace my ribs while his other hand was now tracing my collarbone. I looked up at him in fright. When I looked into those eyes of his, I found no comfort what so ever. When I first found out it was Punk who had helping me, he always held warmth. I always felt comfort around him. Like he was my guardian angel or something. But now, now all I see and feel is darkness. His eyes were ice cold, frozen over by a lake of black ice. I couldn't help but shake in fear of what he could do. My worst fear arose as Punk lowered his head and captured my lips with his own. I tried to resist, to push him away, but I couldn't. I was too scared to do anything but stand there and be unresponsive. I felt ashamed that I just let him kiss me and didn't do anything. Thankfully, someone else did do something for me.

"Get the fuck off of her you two timing betraying bastard." A voice growled as they speared them to the ground and began punching Punk like a punching bag.

I looked at Raven in shock and surprise as he hit Punk repeatedly. If anyone was to help me, I never expected it to be Raven. Sure, I'm sure he didn't hate me enough to let someone hurt me, but I also never saw him as the savior type of person.

"I knew you were up to no fucking good. Don't you ever touch her again. You do, you're going to feel a great amount of pain. And not just from me. Go run to your little bastard of a boss and tell him if he wants a war, he's got one." Raven stood, grabbed Punk and threw him forward in the hall.

Punk fell the ground, blood pouring down his nose and mouth. A death glare was being thrown at Raven as he slowly drew up and began backing up down the hall.

"This isn't over." Punk looked behind Raven at me. "Mark my words."

"Shut your fucking mouth." Raven threatened.

Punk just laughed his cruel laugh. "Have a nice night. I'm sure the four of you will."

Four? My heart quickened as I slowly turned around and saw Storm and Harris smirked at Raven and I. Raven too turned and paled when he saw the two. If he had any doubt of helping me, he showed none of it as he lunged himself as Storm, sending the two into a wrestling fight on the ground. Harris meanwhile backed me up into a regular wall, smirking down at me. Having just about of enough smirks from these people, I slapped him. But before my slap could fully connect, he grabbed my wrist and painfully turned it until a snap occurred. My eyes widened as tears sprang to my blue orbs. Harris then brought me closer before throwing me backwards into the nearby crate. I cried out in pain as my spine connected with the sharp corner of the crate.

"Aww, what's the matter McMahon, hurt?" Harris mocked and he kicked me in the side.

I bit my lip to stop the tears in my eyes from falling. I knew my wrist was broken, I could tell from that snap earlier.

"Leave…her…alone…Harris…"Raven growled between the punched and kicked Storm threw at his fallen body.

Harris only replied in a quick laugh before grabbed me by the neck and dragging me to my feet. He then nodded at James, who brought out a pair of brass knucks. He threw one to the ground before placing on of his fist. Harris meanwhile held me in place as Storm walked over to me, smirk in place. I stiffened, as I knew what was coming. In preparation, I closed my eyes tightly, not wanting to see it. I didn't have to wait long as pain ruptured through out my body, blood trickling down the side of my head. I was then thrown back down into the crate, but instead of my spine receiving the impact, it was the other side of my head. Seconds later, I fell unconscious due to the impact.

* * *

POV OFF

* * *

"I wish the doctors would just tell us of her condition." Terry kicked a chair in the emergency waiting room.

"Terry, calm down." Ray looked at him. "Getting frustrated won't help anything."

"I know." He grumbled. "I just want to make sure she's okay."

"I know. We all do." Jeff rubbed his temples. "Raven too."

"You suspect he was helping her, or them?" AJ asked.

"As he was unconscious along with her, my guess is that he was helping her." Devon offered.

"That would be the best guess." Jay nodded in agreement before his phone rang. "I better take this. Tell me if the doctor come alright?"

"We will." Ray nodded as Jay stood and left the hospital to answer his phone.

"I'm going to kill them." Terry clenched his fists together.

"We all are." Devon nodded. "Jarrett went to far this time."

"Are we sure its them? What about Team Canada?" Jeff suggested.

"It wasn't them." Alex's voice traveled over to them.

"What do you want Shelley." Terry stood and glared at him dangerously.

Alex hesitated before taking a step forward.

"Team Canada didn't do anything. I was with them the whole time." He defended.

"And why should we believe you?" Terry growled.

Alex again hesitated. "Because I don't hate Tess. And because I was the last one except for those involved, to see her."

Terry, the frustration that he was in, grabbed a hold of the front of Alex' shirt and brought him closer.

"What the fuck do you know you litter twerp?"

"Terry, let him go." Ray stood.

"No. Not until he tells us everything." He glared at the younger man who held wide eyes in fear. "Hurry it up you litter twerp unless you want me to take my anger out on you instead of the real ones who deserve it.

Alex shook his head furiously. "The last time I saw her, she was with Punk."

That was all Terry needed. He pushed Alex back, sending him into a chair roughly, before shooting out of the Hospital.

"This won't be good." Ray sat and rubbed his forehead.

"Is he always that aggressive?" Alex asked, fixing his shirt.

"When the one who he considers to be a daughter gets hurt, yes." Devon nodded.

"What was up with Terry?" Jay asked as he walked back over to the group. "And what's he doing here?"

"I was just checking up on Tess. But if no one wants me here I'll just go." Alex frowned and stood up, looking to leave.

"No, stay. If you really want to see if she's alright, then stay." Jeff stopped him, surprising everyone, including himself.

"Jeff's right." Ray nodded after a minute. "Stay."

Alex looked around at them all, uncertain, before nodded and hesitantly taking his previous seat.

"So who was that who called?" AJ asked, ignoring everyone else.

Jay shook his head, remembering what he was just told.

"That was Benoit. Apparently these two aren't the only ones in the hospital due to injuries." Jay sighed and sat back down beside Jeff.

"What happened?" Devon sat forward in his seat.

"Jerky apparently got jumped a few days back. He was taken to the hospital. He's in the ICU. Apparently it could be bad."

"Damn. Who would do someone like that?" Ray frowned.

"Jarrett." AJ muttered. "I don't really know Jericho at all, but that just makes me sick that they had to go out of their way to do something like this."

"Now I really am going to kill them." Jeff scowled.

"Adam wants me to fly down to Toronto where Jericho is. Wants me to be there incase anything happens. He asked about Tess, for her to come too, but I told him she couldn't due to work. I never told him about what happened. We don't need anyone else knowing about this." Jay sighed.

"You should go." Devon suggested.

"I don't want to leave Tess." Jay shook his head.

"She'll understand. She would want you to be with Adam and Chris than with her. You know that. We'll tell her when we see her. Go. Call us if anything happens." Ray told him.

"You guys sure?" Jay looked around at them.

"You should go." AJ agreed. "T will understand, like Ray said. And we need a correspondence there to tell everyone of his condition. So go. We've got this covered."

Jay looked at him, seeing a genuine look from him. He eventually sighed and nodded in agreement.

"Alright, I'm going to go back to our place and get a few things before taking the first flight out. Tell her I said hi alright?"

"Will do." Devon nodded.

"Send our regards." Jeff stated.

Jay nodded before slowly walking back out of the hospital.

"Hey Shelley?" Ray looked over at the younger man.

Alex, previously caught up in thoughts, looked up in surprise, not expecting to be talked to.

"Yeah?" he asked slowly.

"Mind doing us a favor? Involving that camera of yours that is?"

* * *

**A/N: grrr...evil Jarrett and Punk...the once likable man, now one who is hated...interesting lol.**

**hopefully jericho isn't too hurt...don't worry, he wont die. i couldn't do something like that to my fellow Canadian **

**but what does Ray want Alex to do?**

**and could this be the start of a new unlikely alliance?**

**and when will Team CA get involved, and how much?**

**and am i the only one who thought Raven was completely adorable in the savior type role? lmao.**

**enjoy.**


	65. Chapter Sixty Four

**Chapter Sixty-Four:**

"Why the hell do I have to come along?" AJ complained as he trudged along the quiet arena halls later that night with Alex.

Alex rolled his eyes. He had been complaining ever since Ray told him to come along. It had begun to annoy him now.

"I don't know. Now be quiet Styles. Someone might hear you." Alex shushed him.

AJ glared at his back before silently cursing Ray for making him come.

"We're here anyways." Alex motioned to team Canada's locker room.

"Why are we here?" AJ froze in place.

"Because I left my camera with Petey." Alex rolled his eyes. "They don't bite."

"That I don't believe." AJ narrowed his eyes. "I'll wait out here."

"Ray said to bring you everywhere I go. If I'm going in there, you are too. That and we can't risk anyone seeing you lurking in front of here, it'd be suspicious." Alex stated.

"No." AJ stated.

"Styles just get over whatever beef you have with Petey. Do it at least for Tess."

"No."

"So you won't even do this for the woman you love?" Alex raised an eyebrow.

"How did you know about that?" AJ asked, surprised.

"Kind of obvious. I'm not clueless you know."

"Stay out of my business." AJ growled.

Alex rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Look, its only Petey in there, so you don't even have to deal with all of them. Just stand inside at the door and be quiet. Can you do that?"

"Don't mock me." AJ accused. "Just open the damn door."

Alex raised an eyebrow before nodding and doing so.

"There you are." Petey exclaimed. "You said five minutes. It's been over an hour. I must look like a creep, just hanging around the arena when everyone else is gone. You owe me Alex…. what the hell is he doing here?"

AJ returned Petey's glare.

"Just give me my camera Petey." Alex sighed.

"Answer my question first. What are you doing talking with the enemy?"

"Technically, he's the not the enemy, Jarrett is. He's on the same side we are. We all want to take Jarrett down." Alex stated, looking around the room for his camera. "Dude where is it?"

"Bobby said he'd look after it while I went to the bathroom, but when I came back, he was gone with it." Petey shrugged and sat back down on the bench.

"What! You lost my camera!" Alex exclaimed.

"Technically, it was taken by Bobby. Therefore, I did no such thing in losing it." Petey insisted.

"Call it what you want Petey, its still not here. Shit."

"Great, now can we go?" AJ complained.

"Where do you think Bobby went?" Alex ignored AJ.

"No clue." Petey shrugged.

"Damnit." Alex kicked a locker. "This is just great. Could this day get any worst?"

"You just jinxed it you know." Petey said with an amused smirk.

"Shove off." Alex shot at him.

Petey raised his hands in defense. "Just stating a fact. If you want though, I'll help you go look for him."

"Good." Alex moved towards the door. "Lets make this a fast search and rescue. We have work to do."

"You have work to do. I was just told to follow you to make sure you do it." AJ stated as they all left the room and began roaming the quiet arena.

"Call it what you want." Alex shrugged as he looked into the different rooms.

"So enjoying the champion life? You know the one you stole from me?" AJ asked gruffly.

"I didn't steal anything from you Styles. I just have better talent." Petey smirked at him.

"Yet I'm the only two time triple crown winner. Interesting…" AJ smirked back.

"At least I can tell women my feelings. Unlike some people."

"Well at least I can pleasure them. You know what they say; small people always have the smallest body parts. Including a certain one."

Petey, surprising though, just continued to smirk.

"What the hell are you smirking about? I just insulted you." AJ looked at him baffled.

"I don't have to justify myself to the one who lost his girl to me because I was the better one in bed."

"That was a long time ago." AJ defended.

"We were 18, that wasn't that long ago." Petey shrugged with a smirk.

"Fuck off Williams."

"Still a bit touchy on the subject? You never were able to get over the fact that I was always better than you."

AJ clenched his fists. "And yet I've held ten times the amount of titles you have."

"That doesn't mean anything." Petey shrugged.

"Will you two stop fighting!" Alex turned on them with glares. "Someone's going to hear us."

"Why are we snooping around anyway? No ones back here." Petey shot one last glare at AJ before turning to Alex.

"Because there are people back here." Alex stated, pointing at the end of the hall where a door was closed, light emitting from underneath.

Both Petey and AJ looked at the door in shock as they stepped closer.

"That's Mitchell's locker room isn't it?" Petey asked.

"Yeah." Alex nodded quietly. "Wonder what's going on. Damnit I wish I had my camera."

"Sounds like they do though." AJ stated, putting his ear up against the door and hearing Bobby Roode's voice. "Roode is in there."

"What!" the other two exclaimed.

AJ nodded and stepped back, allowing the two to listen.

"I can't believe this." Petey muttered, anger written in his eyes.

"Shh." Alex glared at him before the laugh of Jarrett fell through the door. Alex shivered before turning to the other two. "Jarrett's there too."

"This is bad." Petey sighed.

"Jarrett, Mitchell, and now a member of team Canada, seems like it always has." AJ shrugged.

Petey narrowed his eyes at AJ. "We were threatened into joining him Styles. You would have known that if you didn't decide to screw our years of friendship over just because of it."

"You were the one who screwed this up Williams. Not me." AJ glared back.

"Not now you two." Alex shushed them.

Petey glared at AJ before looking at the door. "So what's going on in there?"

Alex frowned. "I'm not quite sure. It sounds a lot like a conspiracy. Mostly something to take all of us down."

"I can't believe Bobby would do something like this." Petey kicked the wall beside the door.

"Petey!" Alex widened his eyes as the voices stopped inside the room.

"Great, now they know we're here." AJ sighed.

"Fuck off." Petey growled at him before getting dragged around a nearby corner by Alex.

"Just be quiet you two." Alex at the two of them as they watched the door from behind the corner.

They watched as the door opened fully, allowing view of Punk stepping out of the room. He narrowed his eyes and searched the hallway for anyone, but saw nothing. As he turned back in, AJ clenched his fists, looking like he wanted to jump Punk.

"Don't." Petey held him back.

"Let me go." AJ growled. "He hurt my best friend. I want to tear his heart from his fucking body."

"And then all of them will know we're here. There are more of them then there are of us." Petey advised.

"Yeah." Alex nodded and helped to keep AJ back. "We'll get them back for what they've done. Just at another time."

AJ, although didn't want to admit it out loud, knew they were right. If he attacked Punk now, the rest of the occupants of the room would come bashing out, reading to take on a fight. No one else needed to be in the hospital right now because of those bastards. AJ finally nodded and stepped away from them.

"Let him cool down." Petey whispered at Alex as they watched AJ silently curse and pretend to kick walls.

Alex looked at Petey for a minute before nodding and looking back at the door.

"Alright, the coast is clear. You guys stay here, I'm going to try to hear what they're saying." Alex muttered.

"Alright." Petey nodded.

Alex looked back at AJ again before silently trudging over to the door. As he leant his ear up against the door, his eyes widened. For the next few moments, at every word Alex heard, his eyes widened and face paled more so than ever. Eventually, Alex, shaken, stepped back away from the door, ready to go back to where Petey and AJ were. Unfortunately, as he stepped back, his back hit a rock hard wall behind him. Alex groaned and slowly turned, facing an angry Abyss.

"Fuck." He muttered as he looked up at the angry man.

Abyss then made a loud noise, surely loud enough to make everyone in the room aware that someone was outside. Feet scuffled across the floor as the door opened.

"Alex, what a surprise. And I thought no one else was here." James Mitchell's voice crackled.

Alex groaned once more.

"Take care of him will you abyss. And make sure no one else is around. We need privacy." Mitchell's eyes sparked before smirking and going back into the room.

"Whoa big guy, no need to use violence." Alex stepped back from the sadistic monster.

Abyss just kept walking, sending Alex's back into the wall.

"Ah guys? A little help here." Alex called over to Petey and AJ.

To his unfortunately pleasure, no reply was shot back, no savior came to save him. For now, it was only he and Abyss. Which was an obvious tale that Alex would not be leaving this hallway without a gurney involved.

* * *

**A/N: alright, so i couldn't help but to put Petey in this chapter, yet not having his as a crepy canadian, seems a bit more normal in this chap doesn't he?**

**lol, so all hell is about to break loose. Mitchell is now involved (the evil bastard), and now Bobby Roode betrayed his own team. but wait, could there be someone else in that room that we don't know about yet? you never know. lol. keep reading to find out.**


	66. Chapter Sixty Five

**Chapter Sixty-Five:**

"How long has it been?" Jeff asked through a yawn.

"Awhile now. Its 3 in the morning." Devon yawned as well.

"I wonder where Terry is." Ray muttered.

"Probably looking for Punk." Jeff stated in a small laugh. "I kind of feel sorry for him. We all know what Terry can do."

"That better be a compliment Jeff." Terry's gruff voice said over them.

They all looked up.

"Finally. Where have you been?" Ray asked.

"Out looking for someone to kill. Unfortunately I didn't find him." Terry grumbled and sat down.

"I could have told you that you wouldn't." Jeff stated.

"Shut up Hardy." Terry scowled.

Jeff chuckled but kept his mouth shut, not wanting to make the war machine angrier than he already was.

"Where's Jay?" Terry asked, looking around.

"Probably getting ready to go on a plane to Toronto." Devon stated.

Terry raised an eyebrow. "What did I miss?"

"Apparently Jericho was jumped a few days ago. He's in the ICU in Toronto. Apparently it could possibly be bad." Devon informed.

"What?" Terry looked around at them with wide eyes. "Who…?"

"Jarrett." Ray looked down sadly.

"I can't believe he would sink that low." Terry growled.

"Neither can we." Jeff sighed. "This is going too far now. Someone needs to stop Jarrett before he goes even further."

"I agree with that." Devon nodded. "This is beyond low. We need to teach these guys that you just can't go around doing stuff like this."

"Agreed." Ray nodded.

Terry looked at the three of them and nodded. "I'm definitely in."

"Speaking of which, shouldn't Alex and AJ have been back by now?" Jeff asked.

Terry looked at him in confusion.

"We sent the two of them off to go get some information." Ray explained.

He nodded. "So we're trusting Alex now then?"

"Well, I think he genuinely cares for Tess. In the friendship sense of course." Devon said.

"And if we think about it, he never directly did much to us." Ray agreed.

"I guess. As long as you doesn't two-time us. There seems to be a lot of that going around." Terry said.

"Don't we know it." Jeff agreed before catching a rush of medics and a stretcher enter the emergency area. Jeff squinted, trying to figure out if who he saw was correct. Seconds later, his eyes widened. "Ah guys, isn't that AJ over there, with Alex on the stretcher?"

The three turned their attention to where Jeff was pointing. All paled. Jeff was right.

"AJ!" Ray called over.

AJ's head snapped around before seeing the guys. He took one last glance over at Alex before trudging over.

"What happened?" Devon asked.

"Short or long version?" he sighed, plopping down onto a seat like he was exhausted.

"Long." Ray said.

AJ took a long breath in before nodding. "Well we got to the arena and went to Team Canada's locker room as that's where Alex apparently left his camera. Williams said Roode was watching it for him while he went to the can, and when he came back, Roode was gone. So we went on a search and rescue mission when we found a bunch of people in Mitchell's locker room. When we checked it out, it had the usual Jarrett and AMW, Mitchell, and surprisingly, Roode."

"Wait, just Roode?" Terry asked.

"Yeah. Seems he's been going around D'Amore back." AJ nodded.

"Interesting." Devon muttered.

"Yeah well, we were hiding around a corner, Williams and I, when Alex went to go investigate further. We never knew what he heard because after Williams and I finished our bickering, we heard someone getting the crap beaten out of them. Hence how we got here. Alex was pretty beat up. I don't like the guy, but I sort of feel for him." AJ finished the story.

"Who was it?" Ray asked.

"Abyss. We have a lot more people to worry about now." AJ sighed. "Am I the only one tired of all of this?"

"No." Jeff shook his head. "We were just talking about that before you came. Its getting too much."

"What should we do?"

"I suspect you might want to hear what I have to say before you decide on that."

All four heads snapped up in surprise.

"What the hell are you doing here D'Amore." Ray stood.

"One of my students is hurt because of those bastards. I'm just as angry as you are. " D'Amore stated with a glare at Ray.

"I'm pretty sure you have no idea of how we're feeling right now." Devon stood as well.

"Three people you care about are in the hospital with equally serious conditions. The person I refer to like a son is in the hospital with a serious condition. I believe we're feeling the same way. Now are we going to bicker, or can we put our differences aside and figure out how we're going to get a little thing I like to call revenge?"

"Sit you guys." Terry's unexpected voice told the two.

Ray and Devon looked down at him as if he was crazy.

"You can't be serious." Ray blurted out.

Terry shot D'Amore a death glare before looking at Ray. "As much as I despise him, he has a point. We all hate Jarrett. He hurt us in ways that we can't describe. The only way we're all ever going to get revenge on him is if we work together. As much as that pains me, it's the truth."

"He does kind of have a point." Jeff stated after a moment.

"Unfortunately I agree too." AJ piped up.

Ray and Devon looked at each other before sighing heavily and sitting back down.

"Alright, we're listening. Say your piece." Terry told D'Amore.

D'Amore grinned and sat down, beginning to explain his plan of action.

* * *

"How long has it been since we've been sitting here in these amazingly uncomfortable chairs?" AJ moaned as he yawned hours later.

"Hours." Jeff stood and stretched, bones cracking as he did so. "How can they not have told us anything yet?"

"D'Amore went to go ask." Terry stated while he read the newspaper.

"How long have you been up?" AJ asked.

"Never went to sleep. I wanted to be awake in case anything happened." Terry answered, eyes never leaving the paper.

"Crazy." Jeff muttered. "Where are Ray and Devon?"

"Went go get everyone breakfast. They needed something to do so I sent them off."

"Wow, you're really into this father role aren't you?" AJ mused.

"Well I do have a daughter you know." Terry rolled his eyes.

"Isn't that the one who you haven't seen for years because her mother moved to Germany?" AJ asked.

Terry stiffened. His daughter was not a topic he liked discussing. Yes, he loved her more than anything in the world. But at the prospect of never seeing her, it hurt too much to talk about.

"Dude shut up." Jeff glared at AJ.

"Oh, sorry man." AJ told him apologetically.

"Its alright." Terry muttered.

"On a happier note, D'Amore looks to be giving the nurses a hard time. Sort of funny actually." Jeff stifled a laugh.

Terry raised an eyebrow before looking behind him at the nurses' station. A smile appeared on his face as he watched the man he hated having a tantrum and yelling at the poor woman. Finally, the woman nodded repeatedly, leaving D'Amore with a large smirk on his face.

"I'm guessing he was able to get information from badgering so much." AJ mused.

"Is that how he gets everything?" Jeff asked.

"Pretty much." Petey interjected.

AJ looked up in surprise at seeing him there. "What do you want Williams?"

"I brought coffee. I met Ray and Devon by the cafeteria and offered to bring you three coffee." Petey shrugged and handed them to Terry and Jeff, who each took them in slight shock and mumbled a thanks. "Are you going to take it or not."

"I'll get my own coffee." AJ stood and brushed past Petey roughly.

Petey sighed and watched as his former friend walked off.

"What happened between you two?" Jeff asked.

"Nothing." He muttered before throwing the last coffee into the garbage and walking off.

"I guess that means he doesn't want to talk about it." Jeff raised an eyebrow.

"AJ never liked the topic either." Terry stated, folding the paper up and sipped his coffee.

"So you tried asking him?"

"A few times. Always found it interesting how they were suddenly friends, and then boom, they weren't."

"I know." Jeff nodded. "I remember when I first got here, those two were always with one another, pranking everyone else in the place."

"It wasn't until around September that they had the falling out. I suspect it has something to do with aligning themselves with Jarrett." Terry mused.

"Maybe. But I guess we'll never know."

"Heads up guys." Ray and Devon made their way over, food in hand. "Looks like D'Amore got the doctor.

Jeff and terry looked around as they spotted D'Amore and a man with a white lab coat walking over. AJ immediately flocked over and took his previous seat, a cup of coffee in his hands. Seconds later, Petey joined the group, standing on the outskirts, yet close enough to hear everything.

"This is Dr. Hernandez, he's the one on McMahon's, Raven's, and Alex's case." D'Amore introduced.

The doctor nodded. "All three look to be quite serious. Ms. McMahon as the worse and Mr. Levy as the best condition. Mr. Shelley would follow somewhere in between."

"Is she going to be alright?" Jeff immediately asked.

"We're not entirely sure. With the impacts she took to her head, she has a rather dangerous concussion. That and there may be a bit of damage to the right side of her brain. We're not sure, but we do have worries that she might fall into a coma. Unfortunately, our specialist for this area is out of town for the next few days, and will not be able to look over Ms. McMahon until he arrives back. Which could lead to more damage then what originally happened. Mr. Levy on the other hand just has a grade two concussion and a few bruises and cuts that were stitched up. He's awake if any of you would like to see him. As for Mr. Shelley, he too has a dangerous concussion like Ms. McMahon. Though his isn't a coma related one. As for the rest of him, his shoulder was dislocated, and was severely broken. We realigned both, but will take about 6 weeks to heal each. Mr. Shelley is currently not awake, but will be once his medication wares off."

"Wait, so let me get this straight, Tess could possibly fall into a coma because your specialist can't come!" terry growled, clenching his fists. "What kind of help are you people if your going to just let her die!"

"I can understand your frustration. But under no means are we going to let her die. Like any coma, there is a fifty fifty chance of waking up. This is a chance we take kindly. As for now, Ms. McMahon is not in a coma, when she falls into one, we will fully be aware and call in someone else to help her. For now, we're doing everything we can." The doctor tried to calm Terry down.

"I bet you are. I swear, if she dies…"

"Terry." Ray put a hand on his shoulder. "Don't say anything you might regret. Tess wouldn't want you acting like this."

Terry softened. "Your right." He mumbled.

"If anything else should happen to change in any of your friend's cases, I will have a nurse immediately speak to you. I understand your all worried, and I give my apologies for no one speaking to you earlier. If you have any further questions or concerns at any time, feel free to ask the nurse at the station to page me." The doctor told everyone.

"Thank you doctor." Devon nodded at him.

The doctor nodded back before turning and walking back to the nurse's station.

"You don't think she's going…" AJ trailed off, afraid to finish his sentence.

"No." ray shook his head. "She's too strong for that. She'll make it through this. She will."

D'Amore quickly excused himself, making the excuse of going to the bathroom. In truth, he wanted to phone someone. Someone who could help them. He never told the others of him. But he knew they would approve. After all, he was one of their friends from the WWE. D'Amore had been in contact with him for over a month now about a deal with TNA, and also helping in their feat against Jarrett. He already agreed, saying he would instantly join Team Canada. That would certainly seal the deal for Tess joining, as she would surely want to be closer to him. All D'Amore needed now was to find out when he was coming. And it better be soon rather than later.

* * *

**A/N: whoa, so Team Canada working side by side with the guys. bet none of you ever saw that happening at all. but i guess when you have that much hatred towards Jarrett, you'd team with anyone.**

**oh, and a bit more on the new arrival from the WWE. he's friends with the gang, and either a canadian or not. think canadian though, as that might be easier to figure it out.**

**until next update. enjoy.**


	67. Chapter Sixty Six

**Chapter Sixty-Six:**

"Hey, how are you feeling?" Ray asked as he and Devon entered Raven's room minutes later.

Raven looked over at them from the spot on the wall he was boring his eyes into. He was slightly shocked they were here. He expected it he supposed. But he guessed he never fully got that these were his friends as well.

"Like hell." Raven grumbled.

"Well sounds like you've gone through hell." Devon commented as they pulled up chairs and said beside Raven's bed.

Raven nodded. "How's Tess?"

"Thought you two were in a fight?" Ray raised an eyebrow.

Raven shot a glare at him.

"She's not doing too well." Devon answered Raven.

"Is she going to be alright?" he questioned, a sliver of fear crossing over his face.

"We don't know." Ray sighed. "She has a bad head condition. Possibility of falling into a coma."

Raven gaped at him. "Well what are they doing to fix it?"

"Um, medication. Their specialist for this kind of thing is away for the next few days." Devon answered.

"Wait, so they're not doing anything?" he demanded angrily.

"Well their doing they best they can. I guess it doesn't seem like much though." Ray frowned.

"Well yeah!" Raven glared around the room before looking down at the machines attached to him. He began plucking each wire off of him, making Ray and Devon raise their eyebrows.

"What are you doing?" Ray asked quizzically.

"Going to give the doctors a piece of my mind." Raven plucked the last wire before throwing his feet over the edge of the bed and stepped down onto the floor.

"Get back in bed Raven. You just had one hell of a night. You should be resting." Devon stood.

"No." Raven glared at him. "The only person that ever really cared about me is hurt and could die. I'm not going to sit back and let them just do nothing. I've had worse done to me. I'm fine."

"I really think you should just rest." Ray stood as well.

Raven just glared at the two of them before pushing them aside and trudging out the room.

"Should we blame that on medication or no?" Devon asked Ray.

"I think Raven is just feeling guilty about his and Tess' fight." Ray smiled knowingly.

"Yeah I suppose so." Devon nodded. "But maybe we should go follow him just in case."

"Good idea." Ray agreed as they left the room.

They soon found Raven staring into a door window. They looked at each other, knowing that must be Tess' room. They both inhaled sharply before slowly walking over next to Raven. As they peered into the room, their hearts dropped. Tess looked so lifeless as she laid there, her hair tangled up around her young face. Not one part of her body moved except for her abdomen for her short intakes of breath. It broke their heart to see their good friend lying there, not able to do anything to help her.

"She looks lifeless." Raven whispered in a voice Ray and Devon had never heard from him.

"Yeah she does." Ray agreed.

"But she's still in there." Devon stated optimistically. "She's still there."

"Yeah. All we can do is pray everything will be alright." Ray nodded.

"Maybe." Raven looked around the hall before laying a hand on the door handle. "Leave me alone with her alright?"

Ray and Devon looked at each other hesitantly for a moment before nodding and stepping back from the door. Yet they didn't completely leave, not able to look away from where Raven was now sitting beside Tess, just holding her lifeless hand.

"What's going on?" Jay asked as he quietly walked up beside them.

"Raven's in there." Devon nodded at the door.

"Is that Tess' room?" Jeff asked, trying to peer a look at his friend.

Ray though, stepped in his line of view. "You might not want to look. She looks…"

"A bit lifeless." Devon finished.

Jeff understood clearly. He knew he wouldn't be able to see his best friend in such a state without break down completely. He was too close to her to not be effected by this.

"I just wanted to know what you guys thought of something." Jeff stated, turning his view completely towards the two friends, making sure of himself that he never looked into the window.

"Sure." Devon nodded.

"Well, I was thinking, since Tess is in such a critical condition, that maybe we should call her family or something."

"I don't know about that." Ray frowned.

"But if something bad does happen, they're going to find out anyways. And as much as we might not like it, Tess is a McMahon. Which means her father will probably know the best doctors in America. That could ultimately help her." Jeff reminded them.

"Jeff has a point." Devon nodded.

Ray looked at his old friend and nodded. They were correct. The one thing he knew about Vince that he didn't argue about, was that he loved his daughter like nothing else. He had witnessed that much for years. So when hearing word of this, they surely knew Vince would go directly on the phone with the best doctor known and have him flown down to Orlando to help Tess. Like Jeff said, that could ultimately help her.

* * *

"Why do I have to do it?" Terry looked up from his unexpected conversation with Scott once Jeff had spilled the beans on what he was talking about with Ray and Devon.

"Because your like another father to her." Ray stated. "You love her like one. And you've known her longer than all of us."

"That, and we all can't do it." Devon nodded.

"And why not?" Terry raised an eyebrow.

"After bashing his company thousands of times, no." Ray snickered.

Terry rolled his eyes. "Then why can't we have rainbow head do it?"

"Nah uh. Can't do it. Still get nervous just thinking of the guy." Jeff shook his head.

"Your all cowards you know that." Terry sighed and grabbed the phone in Jeff's outstretched hand. "A big bunch of cowards."

"We know." Ray grinned. "But we got you to do it didn't we."

Terry rolled his eyes before standing and walking towards the entrance of the emergency room.

"Well that's one job down." Devon muttered. "Now for the next."

"Who wants to call Shawn?" Ray looked at Devon and Jeff.

"I vote Jay." Jeff mumbled.

"Sorry, he's not here." Ray smirked.

"I vote AJ." Jeff tried.

"Doesn't know Shawn that well." Ray reminded him.

"Carrie?" Jeff looked to where Carrie was indeed walking into the hospital, worried expression written on her face.

"That'll do." Ray sighed.

"Hey Carrie!" Devon waved her over.

"Hey guys. Is she okay…when did we make friends with Team Canada?" Carrie looked at Scott and Petey, a short smile brought along with it.

"Don't ask." Devon shook his head. "It's complicated."

"Tess meanwhile though isn't doing so well." Ray started before going into detail about her condition.

When he was done, Carrie was almost in tears.

"Oh my god." She whispered.

"We need you to call Shawn. It'd be appropriate as your all close and everything." Devon asked her.

She nodded. "Of course." She flipped out he cell phone in a flash. "Is Terry outside talking to her dad?"

"He should be." Jeff nodded.

"Alright, I'll go join him." she bowed her head down and walked towards the door.

"She's really not doing well is she?" Petey asked.

Ray, not expecting Petey to ask that, just stared at him before answering.

"No, it doesn't look like she is." He answered softly, forgetting for a moment that he was one of the ones who had previously made her life a living hell.

"Are you still here?" AJ walked over to them, anger written on his face.

"Where have you been?" Jeff asked.

"Out taking a walk." AJ answered, never lifting his eyes from Petey, who was now looking back. "Why are you still here?"

"My friend is hurt too you know." Petey answered calmly.

"Yeah, but he doesn't have a large chance of dying now does he?" AJ growled.

"No, he doesn't. And I'm sorry about that. Although we've had our differences with her, I wouldn't wish this on her. You know fully well that my father died from a coma. You know how much it hurts to see when other people fall into one. Even if she is my enemy, I wouldn't wish that on anyone. Including you!" Petey stood, anger and hurt mixed in his eyes.

AJ looked at him speechless, not knowing what to say in retaliation.

"If you really hate me that much, I'll go."

"No." AJ mumbled. "Don't."

"Fine." Petey plunked back down into his seat, arms crossed, eyes staring at nothing.

AJ, not knowing what to really think, spun around and stomped off in the other direction. Ray looked between both before started to walk towards AJ's direction.

"Wait." D'Amore stopped him. "I've gone through a lot with those two, and I know right now, both just need to cool down and think."

Ray thought about arguing that point, but decided against it. D'Amore has a small point. A rather small point, but a point nonetheless. He wouldn't admit it out loud of course. That would just be a mistake.

"I'm going to go see how the two outside are doing." Jeff muttered, feeling the strong tension in the air. "I'll be back."

* * *

**A/N: so this chapter has a lot of awes going on. Raven was acting kinda sweet and adorable with that guilt trip. even Petey let his guard down...could this be a start of a new Petey ahead? you never know...**

**oh and for anyone trying to figure out who the new mystery man from the WWE is, he makes his debut in the next chapter.**


	68. Chapter Sixty Seven

**Chapter Sixty-Seven:**

"He's not doing too well." Terry mused as he and AJ sat backstage at the arena the next night.

AJ nodded in agreement as they watched Jeff's lifeless body in the ring. "That's an understatement. Is the guy even conscious?"

"I don't know." Terry frowned as Jarrett knocked his infamous guitar over the already bleeding Jeff.

"I think we should help him." AJ stood. "We cant afford anyone else getting hurt."

"Just wait a bit." Terry stopped the eager man. "Give it a minute."

AJ looked at him oddly. "Terry, our friend is getting the shit beat out of him, I really think we ought to go down there."

"Just be patient." Terry persisted.

"Why? What's going on that I don't know about?" AJ pestered.

Terry waved him off. "Nothing."

AJ shook his head. "Oh no, there's something. What do you know?"

Terry tried to ignore him, but found the stare AJ was giving him to be too annoying. He eventually sighed and turned his head at the younger one.

"Its one of the plans D'Amore came up with." He told him vaguely.

"I don't remember this one though." AJ scrunched up his face in thought.

"He only told me." Terry sighed and turned away from the monitor, not able to take watching anymore of what was happening it the ring. It made him feel guilty that he wasn't going out there right now to help Jeff. But he knew he couldn't. He had to wait for D'Amore plan to start. Whenever that would be.

"Wait, so he only told you? What the hell." AJ threw up his hands.

"He wants to keep this on the down low until it happens. Be patient. I'm not completely sure of what's going to happen either. All I know is that someone is going to go out there to help Jeff, I just don't know who. D'Amore didn't tell me that much." Terry tried to explain.

AJ folded his arms in anger. "Well I still don't trust that guy."

"AJ, it doesn't matter if you do or don't. If we want to take Jarrett and them down, we're going to have to work together. Even if it means learning to trust D'Amore's word. It's hard enough for me. So just try. For Tess." Terry reasoned.

AJ narrowed his eyes. "Tess wouldn't want to team with them. They made her life hell. They made all of our lives hell."

"Because they were forced to do so." Terry sighed deeply, tired of having to go over this with AJ for the millionth time. "I'm not going to try to make you get this. But Tess is a reasonable girl. You saw that she befriended Alex, and she never really liked him due to his contact with Jarrett. She would do this as well, I know her, and she would."

"Whatever." He mumbled with a shrug.

Terry rolled his eyes at his immaturity before turning back to the monitor. It was only a matter of time before everything changed in TNA. And for the good.

* * *

In the ring

* * *

D-"this is getting out of hand. Where's security when you need them."

M-"Jarrett's gone too far this time. Hardy came back into the ring for the first time in months, and this is how he gets treated. This just destroys all the honor in that ring."

D-"what I can't believe is why no one is coming down to help Hardy. We've seen these things happen before, and usually someone comes down. But so far there's no one."

M-"or is there? What's this music? I haven't heard it before In TNA…"

The fans in the arena lifted their heads from the ring in shock. As the large drums and electric guitar fell over the speakers, their eyes widened. They knew this music all too well.

_"On this day…I see clearly…everything has come to life…"_

D-"is that the music of who I think it is?"

M-" I think so…I think someone just jumped ship!"

Jarrett looked up from his spot hovering over Hardy in shock. This couldn't be happening. Not to him. Another one of them came over. It wouldn't have meant anything if someone from Hardy's little group came down to try to stop him. He would be able to beat them off. But now someone from their competitor company had jumped ship. This was bad news for the old world champion. If one came easily enough to help out his old friends, it would be just as easy for them all to.

Jeff meanwhile, had gained a touch of his consciousness. As he was still a bit out of it, his ears didn't recognize the music being played. But he surely recognized the man that was now running down the face ramp and sliding into the ring. He surely noted the moves coming from his old Canadian and WWE friend. With that infamous spear, he knew it instantly that Adam Copeland, aka Edge, had jumped ship.

D-"what in the world is Edge doing here?"

M-"he must have jumped ship when he saw what was going on here. I can't believe this."

D-"we have a former world champion staring down our own former world champion…this is great!"

M-"and look at the face of Jarrett as he leaves the ring. His face is priceless. Scared like the coward he really is."

"Whoa now Jarrett, slow down there." Adam smirked in the ring as the crowd cheered around him. He surely had missed these cheers. "Your going to miss the best part if you leave too fast."

D-"what is he talking about?"

M-" I don't know. I guess we'll find out."

"What the hell are you doing here?" Jarrett yelled at him, grabbing his own microphone from the ring girl, So Cal Val.

Adam grinned. "You see, I was sitting down in my living room, watching Impact for a few weeks now. And I've noticed the way you've been going about things. I tend to not like it when people hurt my friends. Especially my best friends. So I decided to do a little something."

"So you jumped ship. Oh how very noble." Jarrett rolled his eyes.

"Pretty much." Adam shrugged, taking in the cheers. "See, apparently the big man in the WWE doesn't like to see his daughter destroyed by the man he hates either. So we came to a little agreement. But that's beside the point. See now, all I want to discuss is a little matter of you."

"This is my company, don't go thinking for one minute you can tell me off."

"Oh see, I think I can. For one, you've hurt my friends for the last time. Secondly, I love causing havoc, just ask anyone. And thirdly, I just made a deal you and everyone else will be surprised on. So why don't you send your little boys into the ring so we can get the havoc started." Adam encouraged.

Jarrett narrowed his eyes and looked at AMW beside him. After thinking for a moment, he quickly nodded and watched as his tag team slid into the ring and started to attack Adam. Unfortunately, Adam got the upper hand, taking them by surprise by the brass knucks he had suck out of his pants pockets. The two were quickly down on the mat, holding their heads tightly. Adam smirked down at them as he raised his hand and knelt over, getting ready to put the spear on Harris. Right as Harris stood though, Adam was hit from behind with a chair. Adam groaned and hit the mat as he rolled around and looked up to meet eye to eye with the monster Abyss. Unlike some who would be terrified though, Adam simply drew himself up as began trying to fight him off. Unfortunately, Abyss kept hitting him to the ground, and finally, hit him with the devastating Black Hole Slam. The crowded booed loudly as they watched Jarrett slide into the ring and kick at the fallen Adam, laughing and mocking him. But the mocking didn't last long though, as the familiar Canadian Anthem filled the ears of all.

"What the hell are they doing?" Jarrett muttered to himself as he stopped his attacks and looked up at the entrance ramps, looking for where Team Canada would be.

Fortunately for Team Canada, which consisted now of Petey, Eric, and A1, none of the eyes fell on the crowd. They snuck up through the oddly enough, cheering crowd, and climbed over the guardrails. Before anyone in the ring could notice, they were jumped from behind by the three men. AMW was quickly thrown out of the ring while Abyss and Jarrett were more of a challenge. Petey thought toe kicked the blonde haired man and called for a Canadian Destroyer, which for the first time in his career here in TNA, got a reel of cheers. Once delivered, Petey stood, and with a small inhale of breath, grinned around. The grin didn't last long though as he saw A1 and Eric begin to have a small problem with Abyss. Feeling ambitious, he climbed the turnbuckle and called for A1 and Eric to work Abyss towards him. The obliged and soon Petey was conducting an amazing top rope dropkick to the monster, knocking him down. A1 quickly kicked him out of the ring, leaving only now team Canada, the now standing Adam, and the struggling Jeff.

"Surprise Jarrett, we just got a new member to the team." Scott D'Amore waltzed down the face ramp and got inside the ring. "You might have taken one of our members, but we just gained the spot back."

M-"well he must be talking about Bobby Roode, he's no where to be seen."

D-"that's unbelievable. This whole night has been unbelievable. First Edge jumps ship, then we find out he's in team Canada, and now that Jarrett and stolen one of their previous members."

M-"I have a feeling this wont be the end of this for a very long time."

* * *

**A/N: so i've decided i hate the internet. not only was the site not working, my internet was cut off for a day. thankfully it gave me tons of time to write, so expect a few more chapters inmoments. **

**as for the story...Edge has arrived...and he's in Team CA. what do u guys think? **


	69. Chapter Sixty Eight

**Chapter Sixty-Eight:**

"I can't believe you're here!" Jeff jumped up and down.

Adam rolled his eyes at his old friend. "Calm down Jeff."

"I thought you were in Toronto with Jay, Benoit, and Jericho?" Terry asked Adam in confusion.

"Scott called me and told me he needed me to debut tonight. Told the two to call me if anything changed with him." Adam explained. "I have to go back tomorrow though. I just want to see Tess before I go. Is she awake yet?"

"How'd you know about her?" Ray asked.

"I beat it out of Jay." Adam chuckled.

Devon rolled his eyes. "Knew that was going to happen. And no, she isn't awake. Her father and brother are probably at the hospital thought. Bringing in the best doctor they can."

Adam nodded. "I'm so glad I'm here. I can get revenge on that bastard for hurting T. god I've waited for this way too long."

"Well I'm happy you're here. Its almost like old times." Jeff grinned, still jumping up and down.

"Stand still Tie dye, your giving me a headache." Adam shot him a glare.

"You know I love doing that." Jeff gave him a smirk.

Adam rolled his eyes and gave him the finger before the door to Ray and Devon's locker room bashed in.

"Hey what's up guys?" Adam greeted Petey and Eric, who looked out of breath. "Where's the fire?"

"A1." Petey gasped out."

"We found him in the hallway all bloodied up." Eric looked distraught.

Adam paled. "Is he alright?"

Petey shrugged. "Scott is taking him to the hospital."

"Great, another one." Terry sighed. "Whose ready to get revenge."

"That's why we're here. Scott gave the orders for plan 2 to start." Petey instructed.

Ray and Devon looked at each other with sadistic looks in their eyes before standing up.

"You two look too happy for this." Terry commented, though a smirk plastered on his face.

"Hey, if its for our girl, hell ya we're happy!" Ray clapped his hands together before grabbing the chair beside him. "We're going to need this."

"Don't forget the tables. I didn't come all this way not to see someone put through a table." Adam grinned at the two.

"Oh, that's covered." Devon smirked and they walked out of the room.

"Well this will be interesting." Terry mused.

Adam nodded before noticing that Eric looked really pale. "Hey buddy, you wanna sit down?"

Eric shook his head repeatedly. Petey looked at the taller man and sighed, laying a hand on his shoulder.

"He'll be okay E.Y. Scott will make sure of it." Petey tried to assure him.

"What if he isn't?" Eric asked in a small voice. "What if the same thing happens to him that's happening to her?"

Petey opened his mouth but no words came out. He had no clue what was going to happen. And definitely knew nothing of what would happen if someone from both of their teams fell into a coma. This was too much to take in only a few days.

"Here, come sit down, you don't look well." Terry offered a chair to Eric.

Eric looked at him in surprise, not expecting his enemy to be offering him a seat.

"Sit." Terry nodded at the chair.

"Go ahead E.Y." Petey nodded, giving the man the ok.

Eric hesitated for a minute, but eventually fell into the seat, breathing heavily.

"Sorry about him. He's been on the edge lately ever since Alex got hurt. He and Alex have been pretty close friends lately. He's just been overly affected by all of this."

"As we all have." Adam nodded. "I think this is proof as to why we need to work together. You may have differences with one another, but look at us. We're all feeling the same way. Two of my best friends could be seriously hurt, and now A1 could have the same. I don't know Alex well, but I still feel horrible about this. We all feel the same way. We all revenge."

"That I agree with." Terry nodded, sending AJ a small look. "If we want to accomplish anything here, we have to work together. Ultimately, we have to have a truce."

Petey nodded. "I can say that on behalf of Team Canada that we agree."

Terry looked at Eric and saw that his color was beginning to return. He oddly enough felt sorry for the man. He wasn't sure why, but he did. He suspected it was due to the same feelings he was feeling, but nonetheless.

"Ha ha, guys, you should see this, this is priceless." Jeff slid back into the room after he left to watch Ray and Devon's destruction of AMW in the ring.

"What?" AJ asked, speaking for the first time.

"Hilarious stuff. Lets just say, I don't think Harris or Storm will be having kids any time soon." Jeff grinned widely.

"Good. Wouldn't want the devil to spawn." AJ nodded.

Eric let out a laugh, making them all jump at the sound. Eric looked up at the silence and immediately blushed.

"Sorry, I thought it was funny." He mumbled.

"Good, it was supposed to be." AJ grinned.

Now everyone was shocked.

"What?" AJ looked around confused. "Doesn't anyone get good jokes these days.

"No, not that you dimwit." Jeff rolled his eyes.

"What?" AJ asked, still confused completely.

"You spoke civilly towards someone in the team you hate." Petey stated quietly.

AJ stopped and thought about it. A scowl fell on his face as he folded his arms over his chest.

"Now he's going to complain about this for weeks." Jeff groaned. "Great."

"Shut it hardy." AJ shot at him.

"Just kidding, geez. Doesn't anyone get good jokes these days." Jeff gave him a smirk.

"Don't steal my lines." AJ gave him the finger, though a small smile falling on his face.

Jeff rolled his eyes and returned the favor.

"Stop acting like two little kids." Terry told them.

AJ and Jeff exchanged smirks before throwing the finger at Terry.

"Seems you have two kids on your hand Terry." Adam smirked. "Reminds me of old times. Only that Jerky was in AJ's spot."

"And he will be again." Terry nodded, though a glimpse of doubt fell behind his eyes. "How is he doing?"

Adam sighed and frowned. "The last we heard was that he was doing pretty bad. I almost didn't want to leave, incase anything happened to him. But I knew I had to. He would want me to. But I have to say, it doesn't look too good."

"Two of our best friends now? This is too much." Jeff sighed and plopped down on a seat next to Eric.

"He'll be okay. I don't know him personally, but from what I hear, he's a tough guy. Same with T. both will get through this. We just have to keep positive." AJ said unexpectedly.

Once again, they all stared at AJ in a surprised manner.

"Now what?" he let out a long sigh.

"Usually you're the one freaking out." Petey commented. "You always have been."

"Shut up Williams." AJ shot at him before glaring at everyone else. "And so what? Someone has to be optimistic."

"And we're glad for that. We really are." Terry told the younger man. "We need more of that about now."

Adam nodded in agreement before his phone went off. "I better take this."

He quickly slid out of the room, leaving the others to speak with one another.

"I guess I should take Eric and head back to our locker room." Petey said awkwardly.

"Stay, its time to celebrate." Ray and Devon walked into the room with large grins. "We just did the ass kicking of the year."

Terry rolled his eyes with a smirk. "Yeah, you two might as well. It might not be overly safe for you two to be alone. If they want to take out one member of your team, they'll go for you two as well."

Petey looked at everyone, hesitant.

"Stay." AJ sighed, again, surprising everyone. "Terry's right, as much as I hate to admit it."

Petey looked at him like he was crazy.

"I'm really getting tired of people getting surprised at what I say." AJ mumbled.

"Then stop talking, that'll solve it." Jeff grinned.

AJ rolled his eyes and threw a near by empty water bottle at him. "Follow your own advice."

"Adam was right, you two are kids." Terry rolled his eyes but laughed nonetheless.

"Ah lighten up Terry. AMW just got a beating of a lifetime, two down, more to go."

"That's the thing, more to go." Terry said with a shrug.

"It's a start." Devon said with a smile.

"That's true." Terry nodded, a smile falling on his face.

His smile soon vanished though as Adam walked back into the room, his face stricken by paleness.

"What's wrong?" Jeff asked his friend, noticing the look on his face. "What happened?

"That-that was Jay." Adam gulped, feeling like he wasn't able to breathe.

"And…" AJ encouraged him to continue.

"Chris fell into a coma."

* * *

**A/N: i know i know, i'm evil for putting chris into a coma. yell at me all you want, i deserve it lol**

**on a happier note, everyones beginning to get along alot better now...okay so thats not a plus, but hey, i try.**


	70. Chapter Sixty Nine

**Chapter Sixty-Nine:**

"What?" Jeff almost fell out of his chair.

"Chris fell into a coma." Adam gasped out.

"When?" Terry asked with fear stricken in his eyes.

"They were just told about half an hour ago." He gulped, his face falling pale.

Silence fell over the room. The mood was sorrowful. It was as if someone had died, or that was how they all looked. No one spoke. No one could. They were all baffled at this. Ray and Devon immediately forgot about their previous ass kicking in the ring and were now slumped on a bench, eyes averted to the ground. Jeff was staring wide eyed at the wall ahead of him, a totally blank face. Terry just held a grave face. And Adam looked as if he was going to pass out. All looked to be taking this news different, yet they all felt the same. They were all scared.

"I'm going to kill those bastards." AJ growled, shaking everyone from their silence. "I'm going to rip every last limb from their body until they beg for mercy."

Terry looked at him with awe. He had never seen AJ like this. A rage too deep fell in his usually bright blue eyes. His voice held anger that not too many could transfer. In all, AJ held all of the emotions that they were all hiding inside.

"You guys can sit around here and mope, but I'm going to find one of them and make them pay." AJ stood and practically flew out of the room.

"Should we stop him?" Petey asked them.

"No." Ray shook his head. "Because we're going to join him."

Next, he and Devon stood and looked to want to leave the room.

"Wait." Terry stopped them firmly. "We can't all just go out there recklessly and kill them."

"Yes we can." Devon growled angrily.

"We have to do this together, and do it right. If we want them to pay, we have to figure this out the logical way. If we just go running around on our emotions, we wont accomplish anything. We don't think clearly like this. We have to get them back with a level head. If not, we might not accomplish want we want." Terry told them.

"But I want them now." Ray glared at him.

"So do I, but we have to wait. Doing this now wont do anything. We did plan 2. We'll wait until the right moment to continue. For now, Adam, go back to Toronto and be with Jay and Benoit, they need you more than we do at the moment. In the meantime, we'll just go back to the hospital, meat up with D'Amore, and strategize." Terry ordered.

Everyone looked around. Those who had known Terry for a while knew it was no use in arguing this. He was always a strong headed man who thought logically and not by his emotions. He had a point, they all knew that. So in truth, no one could actually argue.

"What are we going to do about AJ?" Jeff asked quietly.

"Petey." Terry looked Petey in the eye. "Find him."

"Why me?" his eyes widened.

"Because you know him the best. You can at least calm him down." He sighed.

Petey looked to want to argue, but after a swift shake of the head from Adam, he knew he couldn't do anything. He simply nodded and left the room in attempts to find the angry AJ.

"What about him?" Devon pointed at Eric.

"We'll bring him with us." Terry shrugged. "Everyone ready?"

They all nodded.

"I'll head to the airport, I never packed anything really. I'll just get the next flight to Canada." Adam told them all.

"Tell Jay and Benoit we send our regards." Terry looked at him with sadness.

Adam nodded and before leaving the room.

"Lets go then."

* * *

"Hi Shane." Terry greeted Tess' older brother.

Shane looked up from the chair he was sitting in, in the waiting room.

"Hey guys."

"How's she doing?" Jeff immediately asked.

Shane sighed and rubbed his temples. "Hasn't improved. The doctor we brought is in with her now with dad."

Jeff frowned and sat in a seat sadly. Terry shot him a sympathetic look before sitting beside Shane.

"When did you two get here?"

"About an hour ago." Shane stated looking up at who had arrived. He soon found that someone was missing. "Where's Adam?"

"He had to go back to Toronto." Ray replied softly.

"Why, oh has Chris gotten any better?" Shane asked hopefully.

Devon shook his head. "He fell into a coma."

Shane's face paled further. "Wow."

"Do that a few more times and you have the reaction we did." Ray sighed.

"It was Jarrett wasn't it?" the unexpected voice of Shawn Michaels said from behind them.

"What are you doing here Shawn?" Shane stood, not expecting to see his good friend.

"Jay told me about Tess when I saw him the other day so I decided to follow you and Vince and come down to see her." Shawn explained. "It was Jarrett who did this to everyone wasn't it?"

Terry, Ray, Devon and Jeff all looked at each other before slowly nodding. Shawn narrowed his eyes and kicked a chair.

"That bastard. He's going to wish that he never messed with Tess or Chris." Shawn growled.

"Don't go doing anything hasty Shawn, we already have AJ on that road." Terry sighed.

"Styles right?" Shane asked.

Terry nodded. "He freaked out when he heard about Chris. I guess this just blew his anger out. We sent Petey to calm him down."

"Petey who?" Shawn asked, sitting down, but feeling the anger just swell up inside him.

"Williams. He's from Team Canada." Jeff answered.

"Wait, I thought they were part of the problem." Shawn looked confused.

"They changed." Shane stated.

"Whoa, how did you know?" Ray looked at the McMahon with interest.

"Adam came to my dad, along with Scott D'Amore, and pleaded their case in having Adam help them out."

"And he actually listened to D'Amore without wanting to kill him? That's more than what I could have done." Shawn commented.

"You always had a shorter fuse than I did Shawn." Vince McMahon's voice came from above him.

"Don't I know it Vince." Shawn sighed before standing up. "How is she?"

Vince sighed and rubbed his temples, the same way as his son did previously. "The doctor doesn't know. He has to run a few more tests on her before figuring out what to do next."

Shawn's face fell, as did the others.

"How are all of you doing?" Vince asked, slightly shocking Terry, Ray, Devon, and Jeff.

"As good as we can be when two of our friends are seriously injured." Terry answered.

"Two? Oh I see, you must have heard about Chris Jericho then." Vince nodded in understanding.

"You knew and you never told me?" Shane looked livid.

"I just found out Shane." Vince told him pointedly.

Shane mumbled an apology as he looked down.

"I already called a few other doctors who specialize in Coma cases. Two are flying into Toronto in a matter of hours." Vince assured them.

"Then what?" Shane asked.

"Then we wait." Shawn answered.

"Hate to break the moment, but where's Eric?" Jeff asked, remembering bringing the blonde haired Canadian in with them to the hospital.

Terry looked around and saw that Jeff was correct; Eric was nowhere to be seen.

"Crap. We lost a Canadian. Great." Terry stood, trying to get a good look around.

"Who are we looking for?" Shawn asked as he watched Shane and Vince move to the side to call the rest of the McMahon family.

"Eric Young. He's another member of Team Canada. The short haired blonde one." Ray described, standing up as well.

"I still find it odd how you've befriended the team that you all hated." Shawn scratched he back of his head.

"Correction, teamed up with, not befriended. We're only working with them because we all want revenge." Devon explained.

"That makes sense I guess." Shawn nodded.

"But back onto this matter. We should split up to find Eric. We shouldn't just leave him alone, you never know what will happen." Terry said.

"Alright. Ray and I will go look outside." Devon looked at Ray, who nodded in return.

"I'll go with Jeff to look around the cafeteria and other waiting areas." Shawn suggested, looking at the younger man.

Terry nodded with a sigh. "And I'll look and see if he's trying to find someone from his team."

"Meet back here in ten?" Ray looked at them all.

They all nodded before the three sets took off to their destinations. All were unsuccessful. That was until Terry went into the ICU and caught Eric talking with an awake Alex Shelley. Terry sighed with a small chuckle. He never really considered these people actual real people. He always saw the bad. But as he saw the way these two laughed and joked with one another, he saw a different side to them. A side that he believed was their true side, and what they were used to seeing, was just a cover up.

"I see your awake." Terry mused, leaning against the open door.

Alex and Eric looked up a bit surprised.

"How are you feeling?" Terry asked.

Alex shot Eric a confused glance, which shrugged back in return.

"Ah, feels like a horse just sat on me about a million times." Alex stated.

"Well you did have Abyss there, so it really would be the same thing."

Eric smiled at that.

"That's true." Alex laughed before he grew serious. "How's Tess and Raven?"

"Raven is doing alright. Tess on the other hand, not so well. Her father brought in a specialist, so we're hoping that will help." Terry informed him.

Alex sighed. "I never should have left her alone with Punk. I knew something bad was going to happen. I never should have left. I should have stayed there."

Terry was a bit taken back by this. He never saw Alex as the kind to have a conscious. But then again, he never really knew the real Alex Shelley.

"It wasn't your fault. If you stayed there, you could have gotten a lot worse than you do now." Terry reassured him.

"But I could have tried to help her." Alex averted his eyes.

"Raven tried that, but it didn't work. And I know Raven; he doesn't let one of his friends get hurt. He might not seem it, but he's very protective. If he wasn't able to keep her safe, then you wouldn't have been able to." Terry told him.

"I know…its just…I don't know." Alex mumbled, a blush arising on his cheeks.

"Don't worry about it. If I know one thing, I know how much Vince McMahon loves his daughter. He'll fly the best doctors around the world just to get her up on her feet again." Terry said.

"I guess." Alex nodded.

Terry stood there awkwardly for a moment, watching as Alex and Eric shared a look.

"Well I just wanted to make sure Eric was somewhere safe, as we don't need anyone else getting hurt tonight. I'll leave you two." Terry told the two.

"Thanks." Eric's small voice stopped terry.

Terry turned and looked at him confused.

"For somewhat caring about where I was." He stated softly, his face completely flushed.

Terry gave him a small smile. "No problem. Make sure that guy rests. We'll need that camera of his back soon. Can't do much if we can't get dirt now can we?"

"Oh believe me." Alex smirked. "The Shelley Cam will be up and running sooner than you think."

* * *

**A/N: well Raven and Alex seem to be alright, no word on A1, Tess or Chris though. seems though that the light side might just be joining forces a bit better than what would have been expected, as they all used to hate one another.**


	71. Chapter Seventy

**Chapter Seventy:**

"AJ just calm down!" Petey shouted at his former friend's back.

"Go the hell away Williams." AJ growled back as he crashed into a locker room but found it to be empty. "Where the hell are they."

Petey sighed before jogging up to catch up to him. Once he had, he grabbed a hold of the taller mans shoulder and turned him around. As Petey saw his eyes, he took a step back. For the many years of knowing AJ, he had never seen that look in his eyes.

"Go away." AJ glared down at him.

He slowly inhaled before standing his ground.

"This isn't going to help anything." Petey reasoned with him.

"It'll make me feel better." AJ stated stubbornly.

"But it wont help Tess or Jericho."

"Fuck you." AJ turned around and continued his search for Jarrett and his crew.

"Will you just stop!" Petey called down at him.

"Not until I'm satisfied." AJ shouted back.

"You sound like them now." Petey stopped him.

AJ stopped dead in his tracks. If anything could have stopped him, it was those words. He spun around so fast, Petey almost thought he got whiplash.

"Don't you ever say I'm anything like them." AJ grabbed Petey by his Team Canada jersey and clutched the material in his hands tightly.

Petey, although had never seen his former friend this angry, didn't back off. He knew AJ had to hear this.

"Its true though. Your doing exactly what they would. Cause people pain. Hurt people. Not stopping until your crave of destruction is satisfied. That's all them. Believe me, I was around them long enough to know that its true." Petey stated confidently.

AJ pushed Petey back into the nearest wall, raising a fist to punch at Petey. Petey though ducked under his arm, using his small height as an advantage, and twisted AJ's arm behind his back.

"Calm down AJ. You heard what I said. Do you really want to be like them? Do you really want to be like Jarrett or Punk? What do you think Tess would say if she found out about this? I don't know her, but I bet she's feel disappointed in you. Do you really want to disappoint the woman you love?" Petey asked.

"Fuck off." AJ struggled.

Petey just twisted his arm further. "You know I'm right. You don't want to disappoint her. That would just make you lose a chance with her. And I know for a fact you were in contact with Scott about getting Danger in here to try to break up their relationship. Alex isn't the only one around here who is good at sneaking around. Do you want to lose her after all that work?"

AJ tensed. "How the hell do you know about that?"

"Like I said, Alex isn't the only one who is good at sneaking around. I have ears and eyes. I hear things, and I see things. It was Scott's idea to bring her in, but it was your idea of how to do it so Tess and Chris broke up." Petey loosened his grip a bit.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Petey rolled his eyes. "I heard what I heard. Don't deny it AJ. You know it's the truth."

Petey waited, just waiting for a response. But all he got was silence. After seeing AJ wasn't about to go do something stupid, Petey let him go, which then allowed AJ to find the closest wall and slide down it. Petey watched him with interest before sitting beside him, back leaning against the wall.

"I just didn't want Chris to hurt her. He didn't deserve her." AJ stated.

"You know he loved her. He wouldn't hurt her." Petey reasoned with him.

"But he didn't know her like I do. He knew nothing. I've loved her from the moment I laid I eyes on her. It sounds stupid but it's the truth." AJ softly said.

Petey looked at him closely, catching only the honest truth from him.

"Why didn't you tell her?" he asked.

AJ sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "Have you ever told your best friend that you loved them?"

"Well no…" Petey admitted.

"Its not easy." AJ said. "I just couldn't do it. I kept seeing in my head, her rejecting me. I didn't want to face that hurt."

"It would have been better than trying to ruin her relationship though." Petey told him.

"I know." AJ's eyes closed tightly. "I just really want her. I love her."

"I know. But doing what you did, that crossed the line. You pretty much ruined her relationship." Petey told him the hard truth.

"I know." He replied softly. "I'm screwed."

"Not completely." Petey trailed off.

"What do you mean not completely?" AJ looked over at him confused.

"I never said I was going to tell her." Petey shrugged. "I was just trying to calm you down. Although I don't agree with how you did it, you love her. That's all that matters. No one has to know of what you did. I wont say anything. But then again, I have a knack of forgetting stuff."

"Don't I know it." AJ rolled his eyes before growing serious once more. "Why would you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Keep it a secret?" AJ asked.

Petey shrugged. "Because you deserve her. I've known you for a while AJ, I've never seen you this in love with someone before. And you've 'loved' a lot of girls before. As long as you don't let on that I'm a nice guy, I wont tell anyone."

"Don't think anyone would believe you're nice." AJ stated, a smirk falling on his face. "But thanks."

"Not that big of a deal…but can we go now…this place gives me the creeps after hours. Remember the last time we were here after the show. Bad things happen." Petey shuddered.

"Yeah, but this time we don't have Alex to go screw us all over." AJ pointed out but stood along with Petey nonetheless.

"That's true. The guy always had a knack for getting into trouble." Petey rolled his eyes as they began to walk.

"Look whose talking." AJ snickered.

"Hey, you're the one who always came up with the ideas, I just did them." Petey defended with a smirk.

"Right…" AJ chuckled.

"Its true." Petey chuckled as well.

"My my, are my eyes deceiving me, or are Styles and Williams actually acting like friends?" Jarrett's annoying voice fell from in front of the two.

AJ and Petey groaned, not wanting to have to face any problems tonight.

"Go fuck off Jarrett." Petey growled at him, holding onto AJ's shirt as he saw the anger return to his eyes.

"Control your friend there Williams, you wouldn't want something bad to happen to him." Jarrett smirked.

"Where's your lackeys tonight Jarrett? Huh? You usually don't go traveling alone." AJ spat back.

Jarrett laughed. "As its only you two, I don't need back up. Oh tell me, how's McMahon doing? And unfortunate to hear about Jericho. Hope he doesn't die."

"Let me go Petey." AJ growled. "I want to kill him."

"I'm so scared." Jarrett laughed again. "Oh and Williams, say hi to Shelley and A1 for me when they get out. Well, A1 might be a while, you never know what might happen to his condition."

Petey now growled out in anger as he let AJ go. AJ leapt on Jarrett, wanting to hurt anything he could get his hands on. Petey meanwhile, looked around them, waiting to see if anyone would come to help their leader. But no one came. He had actually been telling the truth when he said he was alone.

"You bastard. Your going to fucking pay for everything you've done." AJ stood and cracked Jarrett's head into the wall.

Petey smirked as Jarrett fell to the ground unconscious. It was great to see the man they all hated, for once being on the other end of the pain.

"Think she'll be disappointed in me now?" AJ asked, not looking up from Jarrett's body.

"Nah, I think she'll be proud." Petey grinned. "We better get out of here before someone finds him."

AJ looked up and nodded.

"Lets go then."

* * *

**A/N: whoa...can this mean that AJ and Petey may be able to be friends again? and what the hell! AJ was the one who had Allison make a move on Chris...crazy...but then again, kinda cute as he really loves her...but what do you think?**

**oh and can i mention how much fun it was to write that part of when Jarretts gets the hell kicked out of him :D**


	72. Chapter Seventy One

**Chapter Seventy-One:**

"So let me get this straight, you two are friends again?" Scott and Terry looked between AJ and Petey the next morning.

"Pretty much yes." Petey nodded.

"Odd." Terry shook his head with a chuckle.

"I know eh?" AJ grinned.

"You stole my thing." Petey frowned before cracking up.

AJ looked over at him like he was crazy. "I think he has that natural high back again."

"Oh whatever AJ, you were the one who had water…usually you get high off of it." Petey shot back.

"That's true…"AJ nodded, tapping his chin.

Terry looked at Scott, who looked equally confused. "Is this how they always were together?"

"Unfortunately yes." Scott rolled his eyes. "Get used to it."

"Great." Terry smiled.

"What? Its not like we're crazy or anything." AJ shrugged.

"Well you are. I'm completely sane." Petey said with a straight face.

"Whatever dude." AJ rolled his eyes.

"You know this is a hospital with sick people right?" Jeff walked over, sending AJ and Petey crazy looks.

"We know..." AJ gave him the finger.

"Did you feed him drugs again Terry/" Jeff teased.

"Don't look at me. I think he bought off the street again," Terry smirked.

Jeff shook his head. "You have to stop that AJ, you never know what's in it."

"Hey I swear, anything I take, I get from Petey." AJ lifted up his arms in defense.

"Well that is a death sentence in itself." Scott rolled his eyes. "But Jeff is right, calm down you two. Or do you forget why we're here?"

AJ and Petey looked at each other before settling down. They both knew they shouldn't be as happy as they were. But they couldn't help it. They somehow resolved their huge fight, and once again regained their friendship. Though both saw this as lasting more than just a few weeks. This they saw as a new beginning. Or at least for the time they spent apart.

"We're good now." Petey informed them.

"Good, because you're never gonna believe this." Jeff grinned.

"You just won the lottery/" AJ asked, stifling a laugh.

"Ha ha, very funny." Jeff rolled his eyes. "No but seriously, the doctor said there's a large probability that Tess won't fall into a coma or anything."

AJ's eyes brightened. "Really?"

"Yeah." Jeff nodded. "He said that she'll have one hell of a headache when she wakes up, but other than that, no brain damage, and she'll be able to fight again."

"That's great!" AJ almost jumped up and down.

"Calm down AJ." Terry rolled his eyes. "I know its exciting, but people are beginning to stare."

"Oh he doesn't care." Petey slapped AJ over the head. "Stop it Styles."

"Fuck off Williams." He shot back before the two fell into unstoppable laughter once again.

"Alrightie then…well I'm just gonna go over there…I'll let you guys know when we hear anything else." Jeff told Terry and Scott before walking back over to where everyone else was.

"Should we move away, people are beginning to stare like you said." Scott looked around at the other occupants of the waiting room.

"Yeah, these two don't look to be stopping anytime soon." Terry agreed as the two walked over to a few empty chairs. "So back to this plan…"

Scott nodded. "So since we now have Adam in Team Canada, it gives us more to use, but I don't think he'll be enough."

"So what your saying is that we someone else/" Terry asked.

"Maybe a few someone's. I've already looked into a few people outside of TNA. I have two candidates, one from the Indy circuit, and one from WWE." Scott stated.

"Are you actually going to tell me this time of who you're thinking of?"

Scott nodded. "Chris Benoit and Low Ki."

Terry thought for a moment. "Alright, enlighten me."

"Chris benoit is the best technical wrestler in the business. Not only that, but he has a nice feud with Jarrett under his belt. Those two can produce great matches, with Chris winning many of them. For Low Ki, he I believe will be a good asset to take out Punk. Low Ki is by far the best Indy wrestler, who's fought Punk on numerous occasions. Although Raven will have a huge part of taking out Punk, Ki will be able to get the actual ring work done. Raven we should reserve for mind games, as he has a tendency to do those well."

Terry nodded, taking everything in. "how are you going to get Chris in here."

"I already talked it over with both he and Vince. Vince already agreed that as WWE is taking new chances with newer talent, that if Chris wanted to come to TNA, he would be welcome to. Chris agreed and is ready to sign a contract as soon as his injury rehab is up next week." Scott explained.

"What about Low Ki?" Terry asked.

"Signed his contract last week."

"So this is actually going to work then?" Terry asked.

"If we all work together it should." Scott nodded.

Terry stood. "Good."

"There's something else I wanted to discuss with you rather than with the others." Scott stopped him.

Terry hesitated before nodding and sitting back down.

"I'd rather let you know this then the others, as they will want to rip my head off."

"What is it Scott?" Terry sighed.

"I want Tess in Team Canada." He stated bluntly.

Terry's jaw fell open. "Why?"

"For one, she'll be a great asset. Secondly, she'll have all the protection she ever needs, and then some. Thirdly, its been done before to have an American in the team. Lastly, we're missing something in our group, and that would be the women's belt availability. Tess is the best woman in this business, who better than her?"

Terry looked at him and saw that he was being completely honest.

"Its her decision." Terry stated.

Scott nodded. "I understand that. I just wanted to let you know that, so you wouldn't be shocked later on when the spot is offered to her."

"You do know she might not take it. Although I'm sure she wont be against this working together agreement, you still hurt her more than most people are capable of." Terry reminded him. "She might not get over that."

"I understand that, and I take that into consideration. But I have a feeling she'll except."

Terry looked at him before standing up. He new Scott had a hidden agenda. But for some reason, he didn't bother with it. He couldn't. Because of their partnership, he had to learn to somehow trust these men. It was going to be hard, but it had to be done. So Terry simply sent him one last nod before joining the others.

"So anything interesting?" Ray asked as he looked up from the card game he and Devon were into.

"Not really." Terry lied as he sat beside Jeff. "Any more word?"

"None yet. But I keep seeing the doctor, and Vince leaving and then going back. So I think something's happening." Jeff told him.

"Interesting." Terry looked over at the nurse's desk and indeed saw the doctor who was now looking over Tess' condition. "Wonder what's going on though."

Devon shrugged. "You've got me. Hey what's up with those two?"

Terry looked over to the back of the room where AJ and Petey were now joking around. A small smile fell on his face.

"Apparently those two resolved their issues." Terry informed.

"Goodie, now if we have to deal with them like that all the time, I'm gonna die. I swear." Ray rolled his eyes.

"Just be happy they're not fighting. That was too much." Jeff laughed.

"Very true." Ray nodded.

"Oh hey, Shane's coming over." Jeff turned their attention to the McMahon. "And he's smiling."

"Why do I feel like something good just happened." Devon asked.

"Because I feel the same way." Shawn said with a small smile. "What's up Shane, what's going on? There's been a lot of movement from her room lately. Anything we should know about?"

Shane stopped right in front of the group, a grin plastered on his face. He looked around at them before telling them his news.

"Tess is awake."

* * *

**A/N: first off...AJ and Petey are a bit...weird? lol, yay cuz their friends again :) now i just wonder what kind of havoc their gonna cause now lol**

**TESS IS AWAKE! can u believe it :D **

**and lastly, Low Ki and Chris Benoit to TNA eh? can't wait :) **

**but what do you guys think?**


	73. Chapter Seventy Two

**Chapter Seventy-Two:**

"I wish you'd stuff fussing over me dad." I rolled my eyes. "I'm fine."

"You almost fell into a coma, that's not fine." He pointed out, inspecting me closely.

I sighed. "Dad, I'm breathing, talking, and glaring at you, that classifies as fine to me."

My father sent me a pointed look. I rolled my eyes and mumbled a few curses, which gained a few chuckles from Shane who was watching in amusement.

"Yeah you laugh Shane. Just you wait until I get out of bed. I'm so kicking your ass." I shot at him.

"Like to see you try." He smirked.

"Wanna test that theory. I feel pretty good about my moves." I stuck my tongue out at him.

"You two become more like children every day." My father sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Blame Shane, he started it." I crossed my arms childishly.

"Hey, you always blame me!"

"That's because it's always your fault." I stated smugly.

"Yeah okay, remember that time when…"

"Nope sorry, don't remember it."

Shane rolled his eyes. "Your such a child."

"Takes one to know one." I shot back.

"Fighting again? Doesn't take you two long." Shawn rolled his eyes with a smirk as he walked into my hospital room.

"Shawn!" my eyed widened. "What are you doing here?"

"Wanted to come visit my favorite McMahon." He grinned as he walked over and gave me a hug.

"I thought I was your favorite?" Shane frowned.

"Oh you are…" Shawn told him before whispering to me. "Just in his head."

I laughed as Shane crossed his arms and glared at Shawn like a small child. My father meanwhile shook his head.

"I'm going to skip this little dispute and talk to the doctor." My father stated before leaving the room.

"Oh good, now I can ask the hard question." Shawn closed the door before looking at me seriously.

"What?" I asked hesitantly.

"What's up with Daniels?" he asked.

"Yeah, I was hearing Ray and Devon talking about him in the waiting room. I'm confused as to why they don't hate him for cheating on you." Shane nodded.

I sighed. I almost forgot they never knew of the actual truth behind everything.

"He never cheated on me." I informed them.

"Whoa what?" Shane moved to the edge of his seat.

"Apparently it was Danger who made the move on Chris, not the other way around. When I walked in, it just happened and Chris was trying to get her off of him. There's proof." I explained.

Shawn sat beside my bed shocked. "Wow, never expected that one."

"Yeah me either." I frowned.

"Shouldn't you be happy instead of frowning then?" Shane asked confused.

I sighed once more and remembered back to what Jarrett said.

"_About Daniels, he won't come crawling back to you. I made sure of that. Apparently Punk here is a better information gatherer than Shelley. He was able to get, well, a few pieces of black mail that will keep Daniels within my grasp for quite some time."_

I closed my eyes, trying to rid the memory and the thoughts from my mind, not wanting to go back to that night.

"Tess?" Shawn looked at me concerned.

"Jarrett is blackmailing him with whatever he has on Chris to keep him under his grasps. He's pretty much lost." I bowed my head in sorrow.

Although I wasn't sure about how I still felt about Chris when I first found out that he never cheated on me, it hurt so much that this was real. That this time he really was going to be gone. The sadness soon turned to anger though. It wasn't fair. Every time I was happy, Jarrett ruined it. Well he wasn't going to do that too much longer. I won't allow for it. Its about time Jarrett got what was coming to him.

"I'm sorry Tess." Shane took my hand into his.

"On the plus side, you'll be able to get your revenge soon." Shawn stated.

I looked over at him, confused.

Shawn grinned. "You'll find out soon enough don't worry."

I raised an eyebrow before remembering someone. "Is Raven okay?"

"He's fine." Terry opened the door a notch and poked his head in. "good to see you awake Tess."

I grinned at him. "Its good to finally be awake. I swear, any more longer sleeping, and my hair would look awful."

He rolled his eyes, but sighed out of relief. I suppose he was just relieved that I was still my old self.

"Sorry to interrupt, but AJ and Jeff look to be having panic attacks if they don't see you soon."

I rolled my eyes. "Those two never were the patient ones were they?"

"Nope." Terry smirked.

"Ah, could you give us a few more minutes." Shane stopped him, glancing at Shawn before continuing. "I think it'd be best if we told Tess about ah…what happened while she was unconscious."

Terry gave him a confused glance before remembering and nodding. I looked between the two at my side as Terry softly closed the door.

"What's going on/" I asked, slightly fearing what was coming.

"We thought it might be better if you hear this from us." Shawn took my other hand into his and squeezed it.

"What?" I asked again.

Shane sighed before speaking. "Jericho is in the hospital in Toronto."

I nodded, remembering Jarrett telling me of what he and Punk had done. "Jarrett mentioned that they tried to take him out. Is he alright?"

Shane and Shawn fell silence. My face paled.

"He is alright right?" I repeated.

"Unfortunately no." Shawn looked down.

"What? What's wrong?" I asked with wide eyes.

"He fell into a coma." Shane finally expressed.

My heart felt like it just stopped.

"What?" I whispered.

"Dad sent the best doctors to look over his case, but like a lot of coma cases, there's a fifty fifty chance of the outcome." Shawn sighed.

"Oh my god." I gulped.

"We're going to do whatever we can to get him back, I swear." Shane squeezed my hand.

I just starred at my lap. I half expected tears to fall, or something. But instead, anger swelled up inside of me. It was one thing to hurt me. But when they messed with my family and extended family, that crosses the line. Jarrett just crossed the unforgivable line with me. I was beyond angry. I wasn't even sad or upset. I was just angry. I just wanted revenge. And if it was the last thing I did, I would make sure he and Punk paid for all the pain he caused me and those around me.

"He's going to pay." I growled lowly.

Shane and Shawn glanced at each other, shock lining their faces.

"He's going to wish he never messed with a McMahon." My eyes blazed. "Its one thing to mess with me, but with my family? That's crossing the line. I'm going to make them feel everything they made me feel. I'm going to cause every inch of pain that they caused me."

"Amen."

I looked up and saw my friends gathered around the outside of the now open door.

"Believe me, we're right behind you T. we're going to get those bastards back." Ray grinned wickedly.

My eyes met every single one of them, and for the first time since I entered TNA, I knew it was finally our turn to run TNA.

* * *

**A/N: well Tess is back, and with a vengeance. i believe we're finally going to witness the reason why you really shouldn't ever mess with a McMahon...lol i hear thats always a bad thing ;)**

**for future reference, Chris unfortuantely is a lost cause :( due to the blackmailing, he's being forced to go against Tess...but what if she tries to help him? will she be able to get him to come back to their group, and seek protection through them? only time will tell.**

**until next time.**


	74. Chapter Seventy Three

**Chapter Seventy-Three:**

"How come I can't train with you three?" I pouted up at the ring Terry, Ray, and Devon were stretching in.

Terry rolled his eyes and glanced down at me. "You just got out of the hospital."

"So? Come on, I feel fine. Please." I pouted once again.

"No such luck kid." Ray shook his head.

"Then why did I come?" I crossed my arms.

"No clue, why did you?" Devon smirked.

"Ugh, you guys suck." I stuck my tongue out at them before spying AJ walking into the gym. "AJ!"

AJ's head snapped up and a smile fell on his bright face as he saw me.

"Hey T." He grinned as he reached the ring and me.

"Hey yourself. Watcha doing here?" I asked.

"Doing some training with CD." He answered, dropping his gym bag onto the ground and nodding up at the three in the ring. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at home resting?"

"Nah, I hate resting. Its never fun. And whose CD?" I question.

"That would be me." The unexpected voice of Petey stated as he walked up from behind AJ.

I looked at him in surprise. I never expected him to be here. And in truth, I was a bit apprehensive. Sure, I knew of Team Canada, and their true feelings towards Jarrett, and that we were all apparently helping one another. And although I felt sorry that A1 was going to be out for a few months due to knee surgery because of that bastard, I still felt a bit hesitant around these people. I mean, every time I was usually in their presence, I would end up hurt. And on more than one occasion, I would have the unfortunate please of locking lips with Petey himself.

"Ah, you okay Tess?" AJ raised an eyebrow.

I nodded slowly, my eyes never leaving Petey, who had begun to look a bit uncomfortable.

"Stop starring Tess, its not polite." AJ teased.

"This coming from the person who has never been polite in his life." Petey rolled his eyes with a smirk.

"Hey, I was nice to that one lady crossing that street." AJ defended.

"That was only because you knocked her down in the first place." Petey laughed.

AJ pouted. Meanwhile, I just looked at the two oddly. They acted…well…like friends. I must have missed a lot while unconscious.

"Ah, can someone fill me in?" I asked, completely confused.

"On what?" AJ asked after shooting Petey a glare.

I nodded between him and Petey. "This."

"Oh…"AJ pointed at himself and then Petey. "You mean this. Well, there's a logical explanation."

"Which AJ probably doesn't know…wasn't that bright in school" Petey smirked.

"Hey, I'm smart!" AJ glared.

"Right…that's why I did so much better than you on every single report card." He rolled his eyes.

"Yeah well…I just had distractions." AJ crossed his arms.

"Like girls."

"So. At least I had some." AJ stated.

"After I was finished with them." Petey grinned smugly.

"Ah hello?" I stopped the two.

The two looked at me for a moment, looking like they had forgotten I was ever there.

"Anyone wanna answer me?" I asked.

"We're friends duh." AJ rolled his eyes.

"Wow, great observation Allen."

"Don't call me Allen, Pete." AJ shot back.

Petey narrowed his eyes.

I mean while rolled my eyes. "Okay then…I'm just gonna go."

I looked at the two with jealousy before turning to the ring, where Ray and Devon were taking on Terry in a little warm up handicap match.

"You're going to lose Terry." I told him.

I laughed as Terry looked over in distraction and got clotheslined by Ray.

"Sorry." I told him apologetically, though I broke out in a small fit of laughter.

"That's not cool Tess." Terry glared at me.

"Watcha gonna do about it." I stuck my tongue out.

Terry looked over at Ray and Devon, a friendly smirk on his face. The two must have understood what he was saying silently, because smirks grew on their faces and they nodded. I raised an eyebrow before catching Terry walking towards the ropes, looking like he was going to leave the ring. With wide eyes, I began walking backwards, hands out in front of me.

"Whoa, come on Terry, I was just playing around." I pleaded with him.

Terry smirked, a spark in his eyes, as I bumped into someone behind me. I groaned and slowly turned. I frowned as I saw Raven there with a small smirk written on his usually blank face.

"Crap." I muttered before I felt muscular arms wrap around my waist.

"Ugh, Terry! Let me go!" I tried kicking him as he dragged me towards the ring. "I thought you said I was supposed to be taking it easy. This isn't good for me you know."

"Uh huh." He mumbled before pushing me towards the ring.

I groaned as I slid in and was caught around the shoulders by Ray.

"You guys are mean." I pouted as I tried to struggle out of his grasps on me. I narrowed my eyes as Devon began cracking up in laughter. "Meanie."

"Aww poor T." Terry smirked as he slid into the ring.

"Your all now on my list of people I really don't like."

"Oh stop being a baby." Ray rolled his eyes.

I frowned, not able to stick my tongue out at the man, as he was the one holding me. My eyes widened as Terry looked like he was going to tickle me to death. With all my mustered up strength. I stomped on Ray's foot and jumped out of the way. In doing so, Terry lost his footing and fell into Ray, causing the two to head to the mat ground. After I slipped out of the ring, I saw the two lying there, and I just cracked up. I couldn't help it. It looked too hilarious.

"Haha, nice T." AJ said from behind me.

I rolled my eyes and gave him the finger before turning towards Raven, who was still in his original place, though a scowl had replaced the smirk from earlier.

"What are you doing here?" I asked quietly.

"I wanted to talk to you." He told me bluntly, though looking at the ring, not me.

"Why?" I asked curiously, remembering that I hadn't talked to him since the day of the incident.

"I just need to." He sighed and moved his head so he was looking at me through the corner of his brown eyes.

"Go Tess, we'll get you back later." Devon encouraged with a friendly smile.

I raised my eyebrow at him but nodded and followed raven out of the gym.

"So what is it?" I looked up at him, noticing an odd twinkle in his usually cold eyes.

Raven leaned against the outside of the building and looked up at the sky, as if he was thinking about what to say.

"Raven?"

He sighed before lowering his head so his eyes met mine.

"What's up?" I asked.

"I'm sorry." He mumbled in a barely audible voice.

"What?"

"I said I was sorry." he repeated the same way.

"Raven, I cant understand mumbling." I crossed my arms.

"I said I was sorry!" he said a bit more loudly, though a touch too loud.

I stood back shocked. Of all the words coming out of his mouth, I never saw this coming. For as long as I've known Raven, he never once used those words, nonetheless ever think of them.

"You don't have to look like that you know." He narrowed his eyes and glared.

"Sorry. I just…I never thought you'd ever say that in your life." I scratched the back of my neck. "But, ah, not to sound stupid, but why?"

"Why what?" he asked gruffly, returning to the same old Raven.

"Why are you saying sorry?" I asked.

His eyes fell on me in disbelief. "Our fight."

"Oh…well I feel stupid." I laughed hesitantly. "But seriously, apologizing? That doesn't seem like the usual gruff Raven that I know and love."

He rolled his eyes. "Would you like me to take it back?"

"No no." I shook my head with a smirk. "I feel a bit honored that I was the one who actually got the nice side."

"It wasn't nice. It was just…oh shut up Tess." He growled and I cracked up in laughter.

"Someone's embarrassed." I laughed.

"I don't get embarrassed." He crossed his arms and glared at me.

"Uh huh." I rolled my eyes. "Whatever you say Ravey."

"Don't call me that."

"But its so much fun." I grinned.

"Would you like me to call you Teressa?" he asked.

My eyes widened at my full name. "Shh, someone might hear you!"

"Don't call me 'Ravey' ever again, and I'll just forget that Teressa is your full name." A smirk now formed on his lips.

I narrowed my eyes and crossed my arm. "Fine, you win."

"Knew I would." His smirk grew.

I rolled my eyes before catching a glimpse at a sight I definitely did not want to see.

"Oh god no. Why does this always happen to me." My blue eyes widened.

"What?" Raven asked in confusion before staring at what I was. "Fuck!"

"Why the hell are they here?" I asked, hoping they didn't see us.

Unfortunately though, I never had all that much luck. James Mitchell, Abyss, and Bobby Roode soon had their eyes set on Raven and I, sadistic smiles falling onto their faces.

"Oh great. I just left the hospital! Why does god hate me so much?" I groaned.

"Stop complaining already. Go back inside, I'll try to stop them." Raven pushed me slightly.

I shook my head. "I'm not going to leave you to fight those guys alone. Abyss will tear you apart!"

"Tess." Raven looked down at me pointedly. "Just go inside, please."

I saw the desperation in his eyes, and though I felt a bit surprised, I nodded and complied. Before I could full enter though, I turned my head and just caught site of the three as they reached Raven. I turned my head back around and ran inside; not wanting to see what I knew was about to go down inside the parking lot.

* * *

**A/N: alright so i've made a new executive decision...Raven is now gonna have more prominent role in the story. YAY! lol.. :)**

**ooo why do they always have to show up when everyones happy...stupid bad guys...castrating sounds good lol...anyways, hope you enjoyed. lots of updates to come on all my stories...EXAMS ARE FINALLY DONE! lol, which means its summer, and i've got two whole months of twists, romances, and storylines to produce...watch out, this is definitely going to be an interesting summer (well for me at least lol)**


	75. Chapter Seventy Four

**Chapter Seventy-Four:**

"Why so out of breath T?" AJ looked up as I ran into the gym.

I leaned over, putting my hands on my knees as I regained my breathing.

"Mitchell…Abyss…Roode…outside…now…"I gasped out.

AJ immediately shot up in concern. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. But Raven's out there by himself. He's trying to take them all on his own." I told them him with wide eyes.

"No he's not." Petey narrowed his eyes determinedly and ran towards the exit.

"I guess he wants to kick Roode's ass." AJ shrugged at my confusion. "Go tell the others, I'll go help them. Knowing Petey, he'll need it."

I nodded and watched as he followed Petey out of the building. I inhaled sharply before walking quickly to the ring.

"Hey Tess." Ray greeted, breaking the conversation with Terry and Devon. "What's that about?"

"Mitchell, Abyss, and Roode are outside. Raven was trying to take them out on his own, but we all know that wont happen." I informed them.

Terry, like AJ had, immediately stood up. "Your alright though?"

"I'm fine. But those guys aren't going to be soon." I glanced at the exit with a concerned expression.

"We'll go help." Devon stated, sliding out of the ring along with the other two.

I started to walk with them towards the door, but Terry held me back.

"Your not going." He shook his head as Devon and Ray walked on.

"Yes I am Terry." I shot him a glare.

"No your not. I don't need you getting hurt on me. You just got out of the hospital. So unless you want to go back in there tonight, stay here."

"But…" I tried to argue.

"Tess."

"Fine." I crossed my arms.

"Just be careful." He patted my shoulder before racing out of the building.

I sighed and walked over to where everyone had left they gym bags, and sat down on one of the benches. It was driving me crazy, not knowing what was happening. Although there were windows at the front, they weren't fighting there. They probably had moved. I don't know. All I knew was that I wanted to know what was happening. Yet Terry was right. If I went out there to try to help, two things could happen. I might get a scratch or two, or I may end up in the hospital again. I couldn't do that to myself. I couldn't do that to everyone. I knew they all were worried sick about me while I was unconscious. I couldn't put that kind of worry on them again. They had other things to worry about then my health. So like a good little girl, I just stayed there in the gym, anticipating that this would end shortly and they would come in here, smiles on their faces.

But as time went on, my mind began to drift to the worse. What if they were all hurt? What if they needed my help? No, I couldn't go out there. But I just couldn't help imagining that they were all laying there, bloodied, having no one left to help them. I shook my head to try to shake the thoughts. But I couldn't. It was still there, the image of my friends just lying there helplessly, Mitchell, Abyss, and Roode standing over them laughing cruelly.

"Stop psyching yourself out Tess." I mumbled to myself.

But even reassurance from my conscious couldn't stop the ever-growing concern for my friends. I made a decision then, not caring about my own health. I needed to see if they were all right. I had to try to help them. So with that train of thought I stood, and took a step towards the exit of the building. Before I could go far though, a hand flew over my mouth.

"Co-operate Tess, or else." The cool voice of CM Punk fell through my ear as he wrapped an arm around my waist and brought me closer.

My eyes widened in fear as I tried to struggle out of his grasp. Punk laughed cruelly as he pulled me towards the back hallway leading to the back entrance of the gym. I tried desperately to kick, punch, or whatever I could to get away from him. But even as I bit at the hand covering my mouth, he just pushed me towards the door, where Storm grabbed at me, grabbing my waist now.

"What the hell do you want?" I glared at Punk as I tried to wrestle myself from Storm.

"To make your life a living hell." He smirked.

My face paled as I saw Storm beginning to push me towards a black van. I began to struggle more than ever now. I wasn't going to let this happen again. I couldn't. They kidnapped me once. It couldn't happen again. Definitely since Punk and Mitchell had joined the ranks. I feared for my life now.

* * *

POV OFF

* * *

"What do you mean you lost my daughter!" Vince McMahon shouted into the phone.

Terry winced, his head still pounding from the fight earlier. "Well like I said, we were going out to help Raven, and when we came back afterwards, she was no where to be found. All her stuff was there, but she wasn't. We stayed around for a bit, figuring she just went off. But hours later, she never came back."

"I can't believe you lost my daughter. I thought you were supposed to be looking after her?"

"We were. We all love her Vince. I feel the same way you do. But I have a feeling of who did this. And I'm not liking this." Terry defended.

Vince took a moment to cool off before voicing his fears. "It was Jarrett wasn't it?"

"That's what we're thinking. You know very well they did this once. It's not beyond them to try this again. And now that they have Punk and Mitchell, it's going to be ten times worse." Terry sighed.

"If those bastards lay one hand on her…I swear they will never breathe to see another wrestling match." Vince threatened.

"We feel the same way." Terry agreed. "But if we're going to try to find her, we need help. We have more than enough people, but our mindsets aren't right. Raven is the only one who can get inside of Punk's head. But that isn't going to help if we have Jarrett and now Mitchell to deal with."

"You need a few someone's who can think like them." Vince mused, agreeing to his thought.

"Exactly."

"Hm…let me think on this. I may just have a few people that could help. I'll get back to you soon." Vince told Terry.

Terry sighed out of relief. "Thank you."

"Just find my daughter."

* * *

"What's that about?" Adam looked up from the magazine he was reading.

Jay sighed and shook his head as he plopped down into his original seat in the hospital waiting room.

"What is it?" Chris benoit asked concerned.

"Tess is missing." Jay sighed.

"Whoa wait…what?" Adam closed the magazine in confusion.

"Apparently a huge fight broke out yesterday, and while everyone was fighting, Tess somehow disappeared. Devon's thinking that their fight may have been a distraction for Jarrett and them to grab Tess." Jay put his head in his hands. "How did life get so messed up?"

"No clue." Adam frowned. "But everything seems to be happening. All of this just to get a McMahon out of TNA?"

"I think it may be more than that." Chris sighed.

"What do you mean?" Adam looked over.

"Well." Chris started. "You might have not been around while Jarrett was in the WWE, well F at the time. But he wasn't very well liked. Definitely with Vince or Steve Austin. Eventually, Vince fired him. He held a grudge all through WCW. He must still have it."

"So he's doing all of this because he still holds a grudge?"

Chris shook his head. "There's more to it than that."

"Such as?" Jay questioned.

"Vince made it his personal cause to ruin Jarrett's career. No one really saw this as a problem, as he wasn't liked due to his attitude. So Vince went ahead and screwed Jarrett out of any title he could get his hands on. WCW, WWF, it didn't matter. Vince would make find a way to make it happen. Those two hated each other that much." Chris explained.

"So this is a way to get Vince back. Mess with his youngest child." Adam nodded, understanding it.

"So he's doing this out of revenge. Now I hate this guy more." Jay growled.

"Don't we all." Chris nodded. "But we'll get the chance to all kick his ass soon."

"Well we will." Jay nodded at Adam.

Chris smirked. "Believe me, I'll get my hand in there."

Adam looked at his friend quizzically. "What are you planning?"

"Oh, its more like what Scott is planning. Got the same deal you did kid." Chris stated.

Jay's eyes lit up. "You're coming to TNA?"

Chris nodded. "Once my rehab is done this week I'm flying out for the next taping."

"Wait, same deal as I got? Does this mean…Team Canada?" Adam's eyes widened.

"Seems there's going to be a face lift to the team."

"This is awesome. Just wait until Jarrett finds this out." Jay smirked. "He's not going to know what hit him."

"That's the point." Chris stated. "Just don't go around telling everyone this. I want this kept a secret. Like Adam did."

"I swear." Jay held up his hands.

Adam rolled his eyes before nodding in agreement.

* * *

"Torture her." Mitchell stated bluntly.

Jarrett narrowed his eyes and looked down at the sitting man. "Excuse me?"

Mitchell shrugged. "Torture the girl."

"I don't think we have to go that extreme." Jarrett said hesitantly.

"You want McMahon to pay for everything he did to you don't you?" Mitchell stood, brushing off his suit.

"Yes…"Jarrett nodded slowly.

"Then hurt the thing he loves and treasures the most. What do you think you were going to do? Just kidnap the girl and throw her in a room for days on end? It doesn't work that way Jeff. If you want to cause pain to her father, you have to cause pain to her." Mitchell smirked.

"I don't think we should do that." Jarrett said.

"Why not?" Punk walked into the room, smirk plastered on his face. "Seems like a good idea to me."

"I'm in charge here." Jarrett reminded them. "We're not torturing her."

"You may be in charge Jeff, but we're not followers. And I also don't appreciate being an under dog in this situation. You brought me into your little group because you wanted a mastermind like myself. Either use the ideas, or face the consequences."

Jarrett narrowed his eyes further and starred at Mitchell in disbelief. "This was my idea was it not? We're doing this my way."

"Come on Jarrett." Punk's smirk faltered and was now replaced with a frown.

Jarrett scowled at the two. "No. No torturing. And that includes when I'm not around."

Punk shot a looked at Mitchell before nodding slowly.

"Good. Now I'm going to go in there." Jarrett nodded at the door of the room they put Tess in.

"Alright." Punk nodded as he turned.

Once the door closed, Punk smirked at Mitchell, who nodded in return.

"Oh, he really needs to know who he has working for him." Punk snickered.

* * *

**A/N: those bastards...kidnapping Tess again...grrr...who wants to kill them? lol**

**well we now have two things to look forward to.**

**1) Who Vince has in mind to help in this situation**

**2) Chris Benoit's debut in TNA**

**note: Ki will be appearing soon**

**oh and looking at the end, anyone sense a bit of a conspiracy in the group? i have a rough idea that most of you know what Punk and Mitchell are planning...but whats going to happen if Jarrett really doesn't want to follow in their 'torturing' plan? **

**keep reading to find out :D**


	76. Chapter Seventy Five

**Chapter Seventy-Five:**

"Hiding in the corner isn't going to help you at all." Punk leaned against the closed door inside the darkened room.

Tess tensed as she sensed him walking towards her corner. She was changed. Instead of the strong willed mind she had coming into the mess, she was now like a scared child. It scared her that she was like this. She had never been this way before in her life. But here she was, acting out the attitude of someone so much unlike herself.

"Not used to this kind of treatment are you?" Punk knelt down to Tess' form. "You always get the royal treatment. Sorry to tell you sweetie, not everyone loves you like your precious friends do."

"Fuck off." Tess mustered out.

Punk smirked and grabbed a hold of her chin tightly. Her moved her head around so he was starring into the sad blue eyes.

"Watch your language." He stated. "Or you might have to pay the consequences."

"Just leave me alone." She glared at him.

Punk laughed before slapping her, causing her head to snap to the left. "Don't tell me what to do."

"Go away." She said softly.

Punk couldn't help but smirk at this. It was priceless. The usually strong willed woman was no more. They broke her spirits. Their cause was almost completed. A bit more of this, and she would be running from TNA.

"Your pathetic you know that right?" she stated suddenly as Punk began to stand up.

Punk froze in his spot and looked down at her, a bit shocked.

"You're doing all of this just to get back at Raven. That's called pathetic. According to Raven, that's all you were." She shot at him, feeling a tad bit of unexpected courage.

He narrowed his eyes at her accusations. His fists clenched in anger, the ultimate sins forming in his dark mind.

"I'm not the one whose just been kidnapped. I'd close that mouth of yours before you regret It." he threatened through clenched teeth.

"Fuck you." She looked up at him with a dark glare.

Punk narrowed his eyes before grabbing at her hair, forcing her to her feet. Once she was there, and glaring at him full force, he kicked her. Just plainly kicked her in the abdomen. As she bent over, grabbing at her stomach, Punk put her head under his left arm, and delivered a DDT to her. Punk laughed as he heard her cry out in pain from the impact. Oh yes, he was enjoying this. Seeing her in pain that was. There was no way he was going to let Jarrett ruin his fun in hurting the fragile woman in front of him.

"How does that feel Tess? Does that hurt?" Punk mocked before kicking her ribs a few times.

After he saw she had clearly had enough, he gave her one swift kick before grabbing her hair once more and forcing her to her knees. As he looked at her face, he felt pride as tears streamed down her face. He laughed cruelly as he bent down closer to her face.

"This is going to hurt." He winked at her before standing back up.

Punk then spotting a figure in the doorway. He scowled and paled as he saw Jarrett glaring at him.

"What do you think you're doing?" he asked angrily.

"Teaching Tess here a lesson." Punk smirked.

"I said you couldn't do that. I ordered you not to." Jarrett flicked on the lights, burning Tess' eyes slightly.

"Your not the boss of me Jarrett." Punk shot back.

"Yes I am. I paid for you to come back to TNA. You follow my orders. And I said no one touches her. If anyone will, it will be me. But no one touches her." Jarrett reached Punk and glared down at the slightly shorter man.

Punk sent him his own glare, not backing down.

"You heard Mitchell, I'm not a follower. You brought us in because we had different ways to do things. This is my way. So get out of my way." Punk pushed Jarrett slightly.

Jarrett stumbled but kept his composer. He narrowed his eyes even further and pushed Punk back.

"Don't touch me Punk. I won't hesitate to kick your ass." Jarrett warned.

"Oh, and what would you do? Smash a guitar over my head. Wow, that's really cool." Punk rolled his eyes.

Jarrett was the one this time to clench his fists.

"Fuck off Punk."

"I'm not done with Tess yet though." He smirked.

"Too bad. Go out there with the rest of them." Jarrett ordered.

"Make me." Punk said simply.

"Don't tempt me. Go." He repeated.

Punk looked as if he was going to retaliate, but he decided against it. Instead, he shot a glare at both Tess and Jarrett, before he took off for the door and left the room. Jarrett, once satisfied that Punk was gone, turned around and watched as Tess curled herself up in the corner. An odd occurrence happened to him; he felt an emotion he hadn't for awhile. He felt sorry for her. He didn't know why. Especially as he wanted to do this to her. Well maybe not the extent that Punk and Mitchell were taking this. But still. He shrugged it off though, as he gave the woman once last glance before leaving he room as well.

* * *

"Ha! Tonight is going to be so much fun." AJ grinned as he, Petey, and Eric walked into the arena almost two weeks later for the next set of Impact Tapings.

"You just want to kick Punk's ass." Petey rolled his eyes.

"You know you wish you had my job." He stuck out his tongue.

"You two act like little kids." Eric stated quietly.

"Ah, that's why everyone likes us so much." Petey grinned at his fellow Team Canada member.

"Oh speaking of which, is Alex here tonight?" AJ asked.

"Yeah I think so. Eric?" Petey looked at the blonde Canadian.

Eric nodded with a grin. "Yeah. He should already be in our locker room."

"Sweet lets go!" AJ took off down the hall.

"That guy is too weird." Adam stated from behind the two Canadians.

Petey and Eric looked behind them and grinned at the taller man.

"Tell us about it. You at least don't have to spend every waking minute with him." Petey rolled his eyes.

"That's true. I pity you." Adam chuckled. "Where's Terry and the boys?"

"Talking with Scott in catering I think. That's where we just came from." Eric piped up.

"Alright thanks EY." Adam smiled at the younger one. "I'll catch you two later."

"Yeah, see ya." Petey nodded as Adam turned and walked off.

"Petey?" Eric asked.

"Yeah buddy?" Petey looked over as they began to walk once more towards their locker room.

"What do you think is going to happen tonight?" he asked.

"Don't know Eric. But I have a feeling something good is going to happen. I can just feel it." Petey assured the taller man. "Don't worry alright?"

"I guess." Eric nodded. "I just feel like something bad is going to happen."

"Don't think about it alright? Keep positive." Petey suggested, opening the locker room door for Eric. "Scott always tells us that remember."

"Yeah I guess." Eric nodded. "Can I ask you something else?"

"Sure." Petey nodded, stepping back out of the room. "What is it?"

"Well uh…. I kind of have a crush on…"

"Go on." Petey grinned.

"I kind of like Traci." Eric mumbled, blush falling over him.

"Aww EY, that's cute." Petey chuckled. "really though?"

Eric nodded, averting his eyes.

"That's cute. You should ask her out." He suggested.

Eric looked up frightened and shook his head. "No…no…can't."

"Why not?" Petey raised an eyebrow.

Eric shrugged.

"You know she's not with Matt. It's only a storyline. You should ask her out. Just on a small date for coffee or something. Get to know her ya know?" Petey advised his friend.

"Maybe." He shrugged again.

Petey clapped Eric on the shoulder. "You should. I could give you a few pointers if you'd like."

Eric looked at Petey and nodded. "Thanks."

"No problemo. Glad to help." Petey grinned, opening the locker room door once again. "Now this will be fun."

* * *

**A/N: lets start at the beginning.**

**1) Punk is a bastard and, in the words of Alex Shelley "should be taken out to the woods, stripped, and left thee in humiliation."**

**2) whoa...Jarrett...feeling...emotions...was that even possible?**

**3) hehehe, alright so one of the more common TNA Romances is Petey/Traci, so i decided to try a new one, and maybe start an Eric/Traci thing...what do you think?**

**4) this was just an unplanned number that i just wanted to say:...enjoy...and just u wait till the next chapter :D, i might just be planning something...**


	77. Chapter Seventy Six

**Chapter Seventy-Six:**

"AJ?" Petey looked around the room he swore he just saw AJ dash into.

"Yeah?" AJ asked from the side.

"What is it?" Petey asked, looking at him in confusion.

"Look at this." he looked up from his phone, eyes blank.

Petey raised his eyes and walked over, taking the phone from AJ's grasps. He looked down at the screen, and was shocked by its contents.

_A.J.S._

_Get me out of here. Please. I'm scared._

_T.M._

"When did you get this?" he asked, handing the phone back to AJ, who held it with such desire.

"A few minutes ago. It isn't her phone number though." AJ commented, looking closely at it.

"Maybe she found another phone to do it with." Petey suggested.

"I swear, I'm going to kill them. Did you read what she wrote? God, it must be horrible for her. I wish I was there so I could comfort her." AJ plopped down onto a chair, placing his head in his hands.

Petey looked on sadly at his old friend. "We'll find her don't worry AJ. Maybe she's in the building now."

"Even if we do find her, it wont erase what's happened. It's been about two weeks. Two weeks of hell for her. She's not going to be the same person." AJ mumbled into his hands.

"That's true." Petey sighed. "But she has all of you to help her. She has all of us."

"I guess." AJ looked up. "You must think I'm a pussy for caring this much."

"I've always thought you were a pussy." Petey smirked. "No, but I think its cute, how much you care for her."

AJ nodded. "You like her don't you?"

"What?" Petey looked at him surprised.

"Dude, every time you could, you would kiss her." AJ rolled his eyes. "I'm not stupid."

Petey blushed.

"Its okay if you do. I can't blame you." AJ shrugged.

"I just can't help it. She's so…"

"Amazing, breath taking, beautiful?" AJ finished his sentence.

Petey hung his head, feeling a bit ashamed. "Yeah."

"I know." AJ smiled. "How about we make a pact."

"A pact?" Petey looked up confused.

"Yeah. Neither of us will try to go crazy and impress her, or try to screw one another over. Who ever she likes, she likes. We don't try to make her like us more than the other. We just be ourselves, and whoever she picks, its done. No outdoing the other." AJ suggested.

"I guess" Petey nodded. "Are you sure?"

"Might as well…make for an interesting life." AJ shrugged before smirking. "But you know she's going to pick me right?"

Petey rolled his eyes, and grinned. "And like all your girls, they'll pick you after they have a piece of me."

"Yeah okay there Pete." AJ pushed the guy before beginning to walk out of the room.

"Hey, you know its true!" Petey called after him before following.

* * *

"Back off Punk." Jarrett seethed.

Punk narrowed his eyes before pushing him again. "How about you go fuck yourself Jeff."

"Back off Punk." Jarrett repeated.

"I don't think I will." Punk pushed him once more.

This time, it pushed Jarrett too far. He immediately grabbed Punk's right arm and twisted it until it was forced behind his back. Jarrett then began pushing the bent arm up into a distorted look, causing more pain.

"Get the hell off of me Jarrett." Punk warned.

"Or what Punk?" Jarrett taunted.

Punk clenched his teeth before nodding at Harris and Storm. The two exchanged looks before walking over to the two and grabbing Jarrett by the shoulders, pulling him away from Punk.

"Go away you two." Jarrett brushed their hands off of him.

After a quick look at Punk, who nodded with a smirk, Harris and Storm pushed Jarrett up against the wall, pinning him there.

"What the hell are you two doing?" Jarrett looked between the two confused.

"Apparently, they aren't too keen on having to be ordered around either." Punk walked closer, flexing his arm out a bit.

"What are you talking about? I never ordered you guys around." He looked at who he thought were his friends, almost like he was pleading them to back him up.

"Go kick McMahon's ass, go win the titles, go win your match, help me here, help me there, do this or else, don't go there, follow me." Punk mimicked. "Sound familiar?"

Jarrett gritted his teeth.

"You order people around too much Jeff. We're tired of it."

"If it wasn't for me you little twerp, you wouldn't have this job." Jarrett sneered

"And if it wasn't for me, you wouldn't be this close to getting revenge on good old Vince McMahon." Punk smirked. "Well if it weren't for us." He waved at himself and Mitchell, who had been watching them with an amused smirk.

"You work for me, not the other way around." Jarrett stated, trying to struggle out of the grasps of the tag team.

Punk looked back at Mitchell who nodded in agreement.

"Not anymore Jarrett. We took a vote while you were out. Seems you just lost your power."

Jarrett paled. "No."

"Yes. Sorry." Punk snickered, but feeling anything but apologetic.

"You bastard." Jarrett seethed.

Punk took another step forward, now in reach of him. "I know. I take pride in that."

Jarrett pushed himself off the wall, trying to get at Punk. But unfortunately, Harris and Storm kept their grasps on him, forcing him back against the wall.

"Oh please, keep struggling. It'll only make it more fun." He cocked his head to the side before punching Jarrett in the abdomen.

Jarrett gritted him teeth as he felt pain run up into his already sore ribs.

"Oops, sorry, forgot you hurt your ribs the other day." Punk snickered before repeating the punches to the abdomen, as well as kneeing him a few times.

After a few minutes, Jarrett was leaning against the wall, breathing heavily, or as heavily as he could as his breathing pattern had been affected.

"The show is starting in an hour. I suggest we make an appearance at the arena soon." Mitchell stated from behind.

Punk looked over at him and nodded. He turned back to Jarrett and smiled a cruel smile.

"Great idea just came to mind. As this was all _your_ idea, how about we give you a little treat of what you came up with." Punk suggested.

"What…are you talking…about?" Jarrett narrowed his eyes.

"Take him into the room will you boys." Punk turned and began walking towards the front door. "Say hi to Tess for me will you?"

Jarrett's eyes widened as Harris and Storm dragged him along to the door of the locked room. Harris flashed out a key, put it into the lock, and twisted it until a click sounded. Storm then threw open the door, flooding the room with light. They quickly pushed Jarrett into the room before closing the door, it locking behind them.

* * *

POV ON

* * *

I looked on with wide eyes from the corner that I sat in. it was as if I was in the twilight zone. This, this I never expected. If someone told me that I was going to see Jarrett's army betray him, then I would have said you were crazy and needed to register yourself into a mental facility. But here I was, sitting in a darkened corner, watching as Jarrett struggled to sit up against the wall. It was weird. I never thought I'd see the day where Jarrett would be the one being thrown around, getting the same treatment I was. Although I probably shouldn't have been feeling this, I felt happy. He put me through so much pain, that I was finally glad that he got what was coming to him.

But then again, a small part of me, sort of felt sad for him. It was a known fact that no one was friends with Jarrett. Nor did they ever really like them. Those, like Team Canada, and Alex Shelley, were only in his little group because he threatened them. I had a small feeling that if he didn't threaten AMW; they probably didn't want to get on his bad side, hence how they were today. They felt it had been going on for too long. So they betrayed him. They gave him the same feeling he had given me; lonesomeness. I couldn't help but feel a part of my heart sort of feel for him. I knew far too much of what it was like to have people betray me. And now he was having the same. And from the people he so desperately wanted to believe were his friends. It was a touch heart wrenching to think about. If it were me, I wouldn't be able to go on. But then again, Jarrett wasn't me. And I wasn't him.

"Are-are you okay?" I surprised myself by asking.

Jarrett, equally surprised, looked up at me through the darkness. I had a feeling he didn't really see me. His eyes hadn't adjusted to the lack of light yet. Being in this room for two weeks pretty much gave me great eyesight in the dark. I suppose that could come in handy when I was out of here. If I ever got out of here.

"Are you okay?" I asked again, trying to keep my voice from cracking.

"Fuck off." He grumbled.

I raised an eyebrow. That's what I get for being nice. I shook my head and sighed. Well if he didn't want me asking if he was all right, or helping him at all, fine. I didn't like him, so it didn't matter to me. Yet ever as I thought that, I couldn't help but feel a bit guilty. If I weren't like Jarrett, then why would I not care? As much as I hated it, I had that habit of caring. Even if I hated them, I still at times, found a way to care. This was no different. If I really wanted to press that I was nothing like Jarrett, then I would make sure he was okay, even if he did make my life hell, and was the one responsible for hurting me, my friends, and ultimately for kidnapping me. It was my duty.

* * *

**A/N: WHOA! did that even really happen? wow...i can say for myself, i never saw that one coming. i mean, did Jarrett really just get betrayed by his army? wow.**

**and on the lighter side, a pact was made between Petey and AJ...hm...wonder how long that will last lol. you never know. those two seem to like her enough to do anything to get her. who do you think will come out on top.**

**lastly, i have a bit of a opportunity for all my readers. if you go to my profile page, and click on my myspace website link, you'll head to my myspace. why am i saying this? well every week, or a few times a week, i'll be posting a blog on these stories (mostly this one and Bittersweet Sensation). inside, will be some things that may help you in figuring a few things out in the story. things as, upcoming twists, romances, new characters, new ideas, thinkings, and other stuff. so if your looking for a way to keep yourself busy, or your just going crazy knowing whats going to happen next, check it out...you never know, you may find something you never saw coming. .**


	78. Chapter Seventy Seven

**Chapter Seventy-Seven:**

"Are you sure your okay?" I asked again.

"I told you to fuck off." He snapped.

"Don't get all angry with me. They betrayed you, not me." I shot at him.

Silence fell to my ears. Good going me, hurt the guy more. I wished I could feel happy at this. I really did. It would make feeling sorry for Jarrett so much better, because then it would be nonexistent. I raised an eyebrow though as I heard a foot scruff the ground. Well he must have found his way to his feet. Though if I listened close enough, I could hear the small winces and cringes as he walked across the room. Seconds later, light flooded the room, burning my eyes. I groaned and drew my arm up, protecting my eyes.

"Could have warned me you know." I grumbled, blinking a few times to get rid of the dots.

"Be quiet." He glared over at me, who what I assumed was a glare as I couldn't really see.

After a moment though, the light around me became more natural, so I let my arm drop. Wow, I never thought I would be so happy to be able to see light. I suppose being in a dark space for as long as I have does that. I starred around the room before realizing something. I've been here before. This was the same room I was I when Punk had helped me after Jarrett attacked me. A bit ironic if you ask me.

"Fucking door." Jarrett kicked the wooden door when he found it wouldn't open.

"Its your own fault for having a lock on it." I stated a bit harshly.

"That was Punk." He growled.

I raised an eyebrow at the hate in his voice.

"You really should have expected this to happen. He did it to Raven. He'd of course do it to you." I told him, looking down at my hand, picking at my nails.

I felt Jarrett's glare on me, but I didn't look up. He didn't really deserve my eye contact anyways.

"You know you should probably calm down before you hurt yourself more." I advised, still looking at my nails.

"Shut up." He again growled at me.

I rolled my eyes. He really needed to mature. I mean here I was, trying to be nice. Did he help at all? No. This could be one of those reasons for why they all betrayed him. I have to say, I sort of felt for them now, having to deal with Jarrett all the time. I surely would have killed myself if I had to endear that.

"I'm going to kill them when I get out of here." I heard him mutter as he kicked the door again.

Again, I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, because I so see that actually happening."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Jarrett turned on me.

I shrugged. "How long have u promised to get me out of TNA? Way to long."

"I still plan on doing that." He glared.

"Uh huh…right…because you alone will get me out of TNA. Face it. The only reason you did this was because you had AMW, Punk, and Mitchell at your side. Who do you have now? Kim will be with AMW, no doubt. You've got no one." I looked up at him, our eyes locking for the first time.

It was an odd moment. It was as if realization hit him at that moment. He turned his head back to the door. I knew it wasn't just a simple turn of the head. I've done that too many times as well. He didn't want me to see actual emotion in his eyes. He didn't want me to know that he knew I was right. That he knew he was now officially alone. I cocked my head to the side, thinking.

"Shouldn't you have a key? As this was your big idea and all?" I asked.

"I'm not that stupid McMahon." He glared at me for a brief moment. "It doesn't unlock from the inside."

"Well whose bright idea was that?" I sighed.

"Mine." He narrowed his eyes.

"Always knew you were a stupid asshole." I muttered.

"How the hell was I supposed to know this was going to happen?" he growled in defense.

"Like I said before, you should have seen this coming." I shrugged.

"Oh go the hell away McMahon." He growled.

"Sorry, I'm kinda stuck in here too you know. No thanks to you." I shot at him, a shocking smile on my face.

He rolled his eyes before going back to kicking the door. After a few moments though, he began leaning up against the wall beside the door, breathing heavier than normal. I sighed. I told him that was going to happen. But does anyone ever listen to me? No. They tend not to. Not exactly sure why though.

"I told you not to kick the door. Should have listened." I stated in amusement.

"How can you be so cheery after everything we've done to you?" Jarrett asked gruffly, glaring down at me from across the room.

I looked down. "If you think this is cheery, you're surely wrong."

"Well then shouldn't you be all depressed and withdrawn? Your more likeable then." He scowled.

I kept my head down, not speaking. If he wanted the depressed girl back, who had always been there from the start of this mess, fine, he got her.

"What no witty remarks?" he asked.

I hugged my knees to my chest and laid my head on them. I felt eyes on me, but ignored them. It wasn't like I was trying to be depressed or forcing myself. In truth, although I may not have show it at all previously, I was depressed. I've been stuck in hell for two weeks, I can't really be blamed. I've been beaten, had hardly anything to eat, been locked in this room most of the day, in the dark, and worst of yet, alone. It was a little unknown fact that I hated being in the dark alone. I t started a long time ago when I was playing hide and go seek with Shane. I felt the need to win the game, as I never had before. I went where Shane never would have found me; the closet in our dad's office. We were never allowed in there, and we still aren't. It was a big mystery as to why, but now I knew it was just work stuff. But back then, it was a huge deal. And I knew Shane wouldn't try to go in there again, as the last time he did, he got into a lot of trouble. So I closed the door to the already open closet, not knowing it locked from the outside when being closed. After a bit, I began to get impatient. So I started to leave. But then I found the door was locked. I think I spent two hours in there, banging on the door to get out. Finally when my dad got home, he heard me and let me out. Let me tell you this, I got into a lot of trouble. But that's not the reason of this story. Afterwards, I couldn't stay alone in a small place, or the dark. I would get freaked out. Even now, I had to either keep my bedroom door open, or keep a light on in my room.

"Fucking hell!" Jarrett jostled me from my thoughts.

I rolled my eyes for what seemed like the hundredth time. I glanced over to where he was at the door still. He now screwed the kicking idea, and decided on the idea of slamming his body into the door repeatedly. I gave him credit for not giving up. But I also took the credit away by how pathetic he was. Here I was, completely scared about being alone in the dark, and having to spend two weeks in here. And then he's only been in here for what, ten, twenty minutes? A bit pathetic really.

"Its not going to work you know." I stated quietly.

"Fuck you." He growled, not looking over.

I had a want of throwing a few choices of words at him, but stopped myself. Let him be like this. It's not my problem if he wants to be a jackass.

* * *

"Any news yet?" Terry walked into Ray and Devon's locker room.

Ray shook his head. "Nothing."

"This is getting ridiculous." Devon sighed. "We need to find her."

"Amen to that." Terry nodded. "I wish I could just know that she's alright."

"This is killing you inside isn't it?" Ray asked, knowing how much Terry cared for Tess.

"She's like another daughter to me." Terry sighed sadly.

"There's a lot of that feeling going around." A voice stated from the doorway.

All three men widened their eyes in shock as they looked up.

"Surprised?" Chris Benoit smirked.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Ray asked.

"Scott brought him in. I never thought you'd come this quickly though." Terry stood up to embrace his long time friend.

Chris shrugged as they parted. "Saw this was the perfect time. No one kidnaps our kid without paying the consequences."

"Ah, now we're talking. We've got the Crippler all angry." Devon grinned from ear to ear.

"And it's just getting started." Chris stated.

"How's that?" Ray asked.

"Vince has a few ideas from that phone call Terry gave him. Better watch out, I'm not the only one going to be on tonight's shows." Chris smirked.

* * *

**A/N: sorry it took a bit to update this...had a little brain freeze...that and i got a new idea from watching Impact this week...lol.**

**Sorry Chris Benoit is ready to debut...but who is he talking about that Vince brought it?**

**for some help, think hardcore champs, bad asses, crazy, and those with a vengeance.**


	79. Chapter Seventy Eight

**Chapter Seventy-Eight:**

"Making his way to the right, being accompanies by AMW, hailing from Chicago Illinois, C.M. Punk!"

CM Punk stopped at the top of the ramp glanced over the crowd. A few scarce cheers filled the booing arena. Those who were purely Punk fans. Not that he cared. He could have thousands of fans, or just one, but he wouldn't care. They could all kiss his ass for all he cared. They meant nothing to him. Some say the fans made them. But for Punk, he made himself. Sure he used to be a fan favorite, but just because of career choices, they turned on him. Bu it didn't matter. He got more money, different challenges, and hell; he even got a new belt. Not that it lasted, but this was an opportunity he couldn't pass up. See these people didn't care about him personally, or cared about his life. All they cared about was what he did in the ring. Hence how he had no respect for fans. He hated them. And yet, he loved their boos. It reminded him of why he was here, of why he was doing this job.

"Oh come on now, is that the worse you could do?" Punk sneered minutes later as he stood in the ring, mic in hands.

As if on cue, the crowd in the impact zone booed louder; much louder. All Punk did in reply though, was smirk.

"I'm not out here to be nice, or to kiss some ass. I'm out here to kick ass instead, oh, and to play a few mind games." Punk paused, waiting for a reaction, for which he got. "See, these past weeks, have been, well, very enjoyable. You see, I was able to spend my last two weeks here, with a certain TNA Knockout. Oh, I'm sure you know her. She actually helped me at Lockdown…shame it had to end this way though, she was a good looking one."

"_You suck."_

"_Shut the fuck up."_

"_Asshole."_

Punk almost snickered at the words being thrown at him. If they only knew that at every insult, it only drove more stimulation.

"Hell, why don't I just show you the footage of the wonderful little vacation me and Miss Tess McMahon had…oh, and for her little friends backstage, stay close to a monitor, I hope your watching. Roll the tape boys."

* * *

"Let me go you two." Terry growled as he struggled against Ray and Devon.

"Not a chance Terry. You'll get your chance to kill the guy soon. Just not now." Ray told him.

Terry just continued to struggle. He couldn't take watching what Punk just played. It was horrid. He couldn't believe they would just treat a woman like that, nonetheless a person. When he saw Tess, tears actually stung his eyes. That look on her face, she just looked so sad, so helpless. He had never seen such a look on a person before. And now it was on her face, the woman he considered a daughter. He just wanted to rip every limb off of the man that caused this. He made a pact that one day; Punk would suffer, just like Tess was.

"Calm down." Devon told Terry. "This isn't helping matters. We all want a piece of him, but we have to wait. It's the part of the plan we all agreed on remember."

Terry sighed. "Yeah yeah." He grumbled in response, stopping his struggling and going numb.

Ray and Devon exchanged a glance before slowly letting him go. As they did, Terry slid down the wall, eyes staring blankly ahead.

"I cant believe they did that to her. Hurting her like that." Terry said.

"I know what you mean. That was just…"

"Inhuman?" Devon offered his friend.

Ray nodded. "Exactly. It just isn't right."

"I just hope her father doesn't see that." Jay spoke for the first time since the video had stopped playing, his face completely white. "He'll kill someone."

"Hopefully Punk." Terry mumbled.

"Ah guys, hate to break the moment and all…" Alex bit his lip, looking at the monitor. "But who let AJ go?"

All four previous men looked at the monitor as AJ ran into he ring, screwing his entrance introduction, and started his match with Punk. All were wide eyes as AJ fell into a completely different character and began pounding on Punk like his life depended on it. After knocking Harris and Storm out of the ring, AJ slid out, and grabbed a chair. The crowd cheered as AJ slipped back and began shooting the chair at Punk, splitting him wide open.

"Fuck." Ray and Devon said in unison.

"He's going crazy." Jay muttered, looking at the monitor in shock, never expecting AJ to be that brutal in the ring.

"He deserves it though." Terry stated.

"But he's going to kill the guy." Petey said with wide eyes.

"Exactly why someone is going to go out there and stop him." Scott walked towards them, a mix between anger and contempt on his face.

"One step ahead of you Scott." Adam flew past Scott from behind him and down the hall towards the tunnel.

* * *

Adam ran straight down the ramp, not pausing to pose for anyone. He quickly slipped into the ring, not caring about the ref, as the match had ended as soon as a chair was brought into the fight.

"AJ!" he shouted, grabbing a hold of the chair that AJ had been raising above his head.

AJ looked around confused before seeing Adam behind him.

"Give it back." AJ demanded.

Adam shook his head. "This isn't the right thing to do AJ."

"Yes it is. You saw what they're doing to her." His eyes flashed in anger.

Adam sighed. "I know, but this isn't you. Tess wouldn't want you to be acting like them."

AJ growled and grabbed the chair back from him. "I don't care. I want him dead."

Adam shook his head and grabbed and grabbed a hold of AJ's arm, pulling him back from the fallen figure of CM Punk. "This isn't the way AJ."

"I don't care." He growled again, pushing Adam away from him.

Adam's stare grew hard. "Put the chair down AJ."

"No." he narrowed his eyes, glaring at the body of Punk.

Adam sighed and grabbed onto the chair, trying to grab it away from him. But AJ held on tightly, creating a childish tug of war between the two.

"Let go." AJ demanded through gritted teeth.

Adam merely shook his head.

"Fuck off Adam."

While the two fought over the chair, Abyss walked out of the audience from behind. The crowd booed, trying to gain the attention of the two in the ring. Unfortunately, no one saw Abyss as he came and clobbered the two to the ground from behind.

"Abyss!" James Mitchell yelled from the ring Apron with a sadistic Smile. "Doomsday!"

Abyss growled and picked up Adam in delight. Fans winced as Adam was thrown into a devastating Black Hole Slam by the monster. AMW soon came back alive as they slipped into the ring and set AJ up for the Death sentence.

* * *

"Now what?" Jay asked, feeling completely helpless as he watched his best friend for many years getting killed by Abyss.

"We have to do something." Ray and Devon cracked their knuckles as the Death Sentence was applied to AJ.

"Hell ya we do." Petey stood up looking outraged.

"Sit down Petey." Scott ordered. "And just wait."

"Wait?" Terry growled at Scott. "Wait while our friends are getting the living hell kicked out of them. I don't think so."

"Ah…Terry…" Jeff gaped at the monitor. "I think he's right."

"What?" Terry looked at him oddly before being pointed to the TV. A grin fell on his face as he saw who had just run out to save the day.

* * *

Harris and Storm helped Punk to his feet as Abyss destroyed Adam and AJ one last time each. Punk couldn't help but smirk at the blood being shed. Sure, half of it was his. But for the most part, AJ and Adam had been cut open badly. It was as if Christmas had come early for him. But at the simple sound of amplified glass shattering, his head snapped up, all his color gone for his face.

"No." his eyes widened.

Meanwhile, the crowd went nuts. No, not nuts, crazy. Every single person was on their feet, no soul was sitting. They couldn't believe the man that had stepped out of the Face tunnel. No one saw this coming.

The Rattle Snake Stone Cold Steve Austin was in the Impact Zone.

* * *

**A/N: WHOA! alright, wow...thats a...real big shocker...i have a small idea no one saw that one coming...hell...i didn't until my friend mentioned SCSA. damn this is starting to heat up...can't wait for more to come...after witnessing this, its just about could be anyone, so put your thinking caps on, you never know what i have instore for you.**


	80. Chapter Seventy Nine

**Chapter Seventy-Nine:**

The five men in the ring couldn't believe that the biggest SOB in the wrestling business was standing on that stage, glaring dangerously down at them. Without a moments notice, The Rattlesnake jogged down the ramp and slid into the ring. Mitchell immediately jumped out of the ring, ordering Abyss to attack Austin. Austin just smirked and threw right hands at the monster. Soon, a toe kick appeared, allowing for the ever-popular Stunner to take place in the middle of the ring. Punk watched in horror as Austin got up and turned towards the three cowering in the corner. He just stood there, looking at the three, the crazy look in his eyes. Punk's eyes widened and furiously told the two to get out. But as the selfish one that he was, Punk, pushed the two away and dived out of the ring first, leaving the two to Austin's disposal. He took full advantage of the two having their backs turned to him and quickly turned Storm around. After delivering a swift Stunner to the man, he waited on Harris. Harris heard the wild chants and let his face pale. He slowly turned and was caught with a toe kick to the mid section. Soon after, he was face down on the mat after the devastating Stunner. Looking at the ones he had Stunnered, Austin grew a large smirk before throwing the stone cold salute into the air. The crowd in the impact zone went crazy. One of the most liked men in the wrestling business was here, in this arena, in this company. They couldn't help but feel like this was the best time of their lives.

* * *

"Ha ha, that's kind of cool. I had Stone Cold Steve Austin save my ass." AJ grinned as he rubbed his shoulder.

Adam rolled his eyes as he smacked him over the head. "We wouldn't have needed saving if you just let the chair go."

AJ looked down embarrassed. "Sorry…I was just angry. I wanted revenge."

"We understand that, we all want it. We just have to work as a team to get it." Jeff told him.

AJ nodded.

"So, speaking of Austin, where is he?" Adam asked.

Jeff shrugged. "Terry and Scott met him at the tunnel, haven't seen any of them since."

"Odd." Adam said before shrugging. "But no biggie. Anyways, I have a match with Eric on the second taping, so I better find him. See you two later."

"When is the next taping happening?" AJ asked, looking up, a stray touch of blush still on his face.

"After this match." Jeff nodded up at the monitor they were pacing while walking to the locker room.

AJ glanced up and saw Ray and Devon in the ring with AMW. He couldn't help but feel the anger in him swell as he caught sight of Punk at ringside. That cocky smirk plastered on his face made AJ want to rip it off by his bare hands. It sickened him how those people could do what they did with Tess. Hurting her in the ring is one thing. Hell, even in the arena. But kidnapping her, locking her in a room in who knows what kind of conditions, and hurting her, that was beyond low. That was cruel.

"Don't worry, he'll get what's coming to him." Jeff told him, noticing AJ's face growing dark with anger.

"I know. I just hope it's soon." AJ clenched his fists.

"It will be, don't worry." Jeff assured.

AJ nodded.

"I miss her too." Jeff told him, seeing the sad look beginning to replace the anger.

AJ snapped his head over to Jeff, surprised. "What?"

"I miss her a lot too. Your easy to read dude."

"Oh." He nodded.

"But I have a feeling you miss her a bit more than me, as you do love her." Jeff mused, a small smile on his face.

"Shut up." AJ muttered, face turning red.

Jeff laughed. "Aww, how cute, you're blushing."

"Go away Hardy." He glared.

Jeff laughed before pushing AJ. "Aww, don't get embarrassed. Its cute how much you like her."

AJ just shrugged.

"But I'll stop teasing." Jeff told him, chuckling.

"Good."

Jeff couldn't help but laugh at his friend's antics. Although it was a time to be in sorrow, seeing how much AJ cared for her, and the lengths he would go for Tess, it just made him laugh. He never thought he'd see this guy acting like he was now.

"Hey boys." Alex greeted them, as he, A1, and Petey joined up with the two.

"Alex." Jeff nodded. "Others."

"Wow, I feel liked, he gets an Alex, and I get an 'others'." Petey frowned.

"Too lazy to remember your names." Jeff smirked.

Petey stuck his tongue out. "Whatever, what's up Allen?"

"Ugh, why do people insist on calling me that!" AJ exclaimed, throwing his arms out wildly.

"Because it apparently drives you crazy." Alex replied cockily.

"Whatever skunkie, whatever." AJ shot him a glare.

"Hey, just because I have better hair than you don't mean you have to be jealous." Alex smirked.

"Ha, you look like a skunk like that."

"I guess I should be glad everyone's fighting like little kids." Chris Benoit muttered from the locker room door way.

Jay looked down the hall at the group walking towards them and grinned. "You really should. It was unbearable when AJ and Petey fought. Nice to see they got their friendship back."

"I heard about that." Chris nodded, walking back into the room with Jay. "I suppose this sport can break more than a relationship."

Jay eyed Chris. There was something hidden under that cool frame of the Canadian Crippler. "Everything alright Chris?"

"Yeah, why do you ask?" Chris asked confused.

"Just the way you said it." Jay shrugged, but noting the look in Chris' eyes.

"Well everything fine." Chris plastered on a smile.

Jay nodded, but made a mental note to ask Terry or someone about it. If anyone knew if something was up with Chris, it would most likely be Terry.

"Finally, more Canadians!" Petey exclaimed walking into the room. "Thought me and A1 were going to have to be around idiot Americans all day!"

"Hey!" AJ, Alex, and Jeff said in unison.

"Oh you know its true." Petey rolled is eyes.

"I'd have to agree." Jay nodded.

"Hey, your suppose to help us." Jeff frowned.

"Sorry Tie Dye, but he's right."

"Not cool." He crossed his arms.

"And I missed you guys?" Chris rolled his eyes.

"Hey, we're not as bad as John or Randy." Jeff pointed out.

"Alright, that's true. There's no surpassing those two."

"Amen to that!" Jay laughed.

"I have no clue what you guys are talking about…" Alex shook his head.

"Just smile and nod, that's what AJ's good at." Petey stated.

"Hey!" AJ whacked Petey over the head.

"Ow!" Petey grumbled, sending AJ a glare.

"Hey, its not my fault you're an asshole." AJ shrugged.

Chris rolled his eyes and looked at Jay. "Why do I see a future John and Randy?"

"Because they're almost exactly the same." Jay laughed. "Why are we always the one stuck with them?"

"We apparently did something wrong and now we're being punished."

"Looks that way." Jay shook his head.

* * *

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Jarrett spat at Punk.

Punk seethed. "Don't go playing all stupid. You did something."

"Yes, because being locked inside this room for hours gives me the power to do so much." Jarrett rolled his eyes sarcastically.

Punk punched him, sending his head to the side. "Find his phone."

Harris and Storm looked at one another before pushing Jarrett up against the wall and begin searching for his phone.

"I don't have my phone you bastard." Jarrett told him, wheezing from the previous hits to his mid-section.

Punk narrowed his eyes before kneeing Jarrett in the mid section.

"Where is it?"

"Out there." Jarrett directed his eyes to outside the door.

Punk glanced outside the room before having the two stop their search, but not before each gave Jarrett a nasty punch to his sides.

"What the hell is going on Punk?" Jarrett demanded.

"If I find you had anything to do with this, I swear to god, I will make your life miserable." Punk grabbed Jarrett by the throat.

Jarrett tried struggling as Punk slowly drew the oxygen from his body.

"Stop it."

Punk's hand loosened as he raised an eyebrow in interest. With his hand still loosely around Jarrett's neck, he turned his head and starred at Tess, who was in the corner of the room, glaring up at him.

"What did you say?" he asked.

"Stop it." she mumbled.

He couldn't help but laugh. "Am I hearing this right? Are you seriously asking me to stop hurting the man who has done the same to you? Wow, now this is news."

"Just leave him alone."

"You know…" Punk took his hand away from Jarrett and began walking towards her. "I'm not in a good mood. Meaning I want to hurt someone."

Tess moved her eyes down to the ground as Punk kneeled beside her. His presence did the worst possible thing. It scared her.

"And if you don't want me to do that to him…then there's only one other person who I can do it to." He smirked, grabbing her chin and made her look at him.

She tried to hold confidence in her face, but she failed miserably. Punk laughed cruelly as he stood up. For a moment, she thought he had decided not to do anything. But that changed as a foot came flying at her head, sending it to hit against the hard wall. Tess winced in pain as her hands flew up to aid the spot. Punk then drew her up by her hair, making her stand on her wobbly legs before him. He smirked at her as she tried to stop the tears that had sprung to her eyes.

"Don't ever tell me what to do again." He whispered to her before taking her by the neck.

He pushed his thumb hard into the base of her throat, cutting her oxygen off. Tess's eyes widened as she tried to pry his hands away. Punk laughed as she struggled, loving the way she was frightened. But before he could do too much damage, he pushed her against the way, giving one last push into her throat before letting her go.

"Next time, stay silent." He kicked her in the side before turning and leaving her form on the ground. "Lets go boys, we've done enough damage for now."

"You're a bastard you know that." Jarrett threw at him as the three walked towards the door.

Punk stopped and turned, sending a confused glare at the man.

"This coming from a man who's done the exact same things I have." Punk said with amusement.

"I never wanted this to happen." Jarrett looked over at Tess, who was gasping on the ground, trying to regain her breathing.

"Like you said, you wanted this to happen."

"I wanted to drive her out of TNA, not kill her." Jarrett growled.

"Oh, but see, I'm not going to kill her. Just torture her." Punk smirked before turning back towards the door. "And if you don't want the same fate, then I suggest you get used to the idea."

Jarrett watched with rage in his eyes as Punk left the room, the door closing with a click soon afterwards. He sighed angrily as he looked back over at Tess. He shook his head before slowly walking over…

* * *

**A/N: i gotta say, i've never been so happy to see SCSA in my life...now i wanna see him kick Punk's ass...that will be entertaining.**

**hm...Punk still is a bastard...but whats this, Tess wanted him to stop Punk from choking Jarrett? shows she at least has a heart...unlike some people glared at Punk...the ending is a bit intriguing, why does he walk over to her? is he going to help her? or what? ahhh! not even i know lol.**

**whatcha guys think?**


	81. Chapter Eighty

**Chapter Eighty:**

_Jarrett's POV_

I stopped a short distance from where McMahon's form was. I couldn't figure out what the hell I was thinking. Was this really pity I felt for the woman who I wanted to get out of TNA for so long? It couldn't be could it? I hate her. No. I hate her with a passion. If I could, or more or less, if I had the nerve or courage, I would more than likely be like that bastard Punk at the moment. But instead my damn weakness left me here. I was beaten, sore, and thinking of actually helping my enemy out. It felt like my world was caving in on me. What was I doing? I didn't even know what was happening anymore. One minute I was so happy. Everything had fallen into place. McMahon was so close to getting run out of TNA. But then Punk and Mitchell went behind my back and ruined it. And now I'm in this god-forsaken room, living like a prisoner, when all of this was to benefit me in the end.

Deep down, I knew it felt betrayed. I knew I felt hurt about the situation. I thought for a brief moment that I had people I could count on. That's all I wanted. But those two good for nothing hicks betrayed me. I wasn't about to let them get me down. I had a new mission in sight. Getting McMahon out of TNA could wait. Oh no, I wanted revenge on those bastards. They didn't know who they were messing with. I'm Jeff Jarrett, King Of The Mountain. I'm not a force to be reckoned with.

_REG POV_

After an inner battle of what he had to do next, Jarrett knelt down beside Tess. It took him a moment to figure out what to say, his mouth suddenly feeling a lot like the touch of sandpaper.

"Are you okay?" he stumbled over the unexpected words.

Silence reigned from Tess. She was just there, supporting her body by her propped up hands. He could hear raspy gasps coming from her, which would be expected after having that sort of power being forced into the base of your throat.

"McMahon?" he cocked his head to the side.

"Fuck…off…" she repeated the same words he had given her earlier that night.

He should have expected that from her. He did say the same thing when she tried to help him. He deserved it yes, he really did. But he was trying was he not? Was he not trying to be nice?

"I'm just trying to be helpful." He stated in defense.

"I don't care what your trying to do." She shot at him, finally feeling the air back in her lungs.

"You don't have to be rude about it." Jarrett stood up with a sigh.

"And you didn't have to do the same thing to me." She glared up at him.

It was a bit shocking. He never actually took a good look at her in the last two weeks. But with the lights finally on, he could see every detail on her face. It was something he wished he hadn't though. He could see every bruise, every scratch, every cut, and every mark that they left on her. It wasn't horrific in that sort of sense. But to see what he and the others actually did to a human being, it sort of made him sick. Yes, he hated the McMahon's with a passion because of the past, but he never thought he would go this far. If that didn't churn his insides, the look in her eyes did. Through the tears, through the anger, he could see the most intense amount of pain he had ever seen. It wasn't just pain though. Fear; loneliness; sadness. It was a bit unbearable, he had to admit. He never dreamed of seeing that much emotion emit from a person before. It drove him to something he never thought he'd feel in all of this. He felt guilty. He felt ashamed. And worse of all, he actually did pity her.

"Stop looking at me like that." She growled in a low voice.

Jarrett looked away. In all honesty, he couldn't take it anymore. He didn't know why, but he regretted this. He regretted ever getting Mitchell and Punk involved. He should have just kept this how it was. Now this was different. Lives were in stake. Not in life or death, but rather, in emotional well being. She would never be the same after this. And truthfully, neither would he.

* * *

"Where the hell have you been Alex!" Scott exclaimed as Alex slowly waltzed into the group's meeting later that week.

Alex grinned brightly as he sat his camera down and sat beside Ray.

"Yeah come on Shelley, where have ya been?" Devon looked around Ray, giving the younger man a confused glance.

Alex just continued to grin.

"Alex, speak up." Scott sent him a warning glare.

"Alright alright." Alex held up his hands, amusement clear in his tone. "Lets just say, I got the best information in the world."

"And that would be?" Jay asked bored.

"Well, I would appreciate more niceness before continuing." Alex shrugged, smirk replacing the grin.

"Tough, tell us what you found, and then I'll play nice." Jay rolled his eyes.

"Fine fine." Alex nodded and picked up his camera. "Well, I was doing a bit of snooping, as I always do…"

"Hurry it up will you." Jay rushed.

"Patience Canadian, patience."

"Tell me to be patient once more and I'll break that camera of yours." Jay warned.

Alex shrugged with his smirk. "Well then you wont know where CM Punk happens to go in a day."

All eyes were now on him, though this time in interest.

"Continue." Terry urged.

"Well…" Alex paused, hoping for a suspenseful build up. Though after seeing glares being thrown at him, he quickly continued. "Well I had a bright idea, one that no one else had come up with, and that was to stalk good old Punk around for a day or two, see if he'll lead us to where Tess may be."

"And…?"AJ sat forward in interest.

"Well he did the ordinary scene. Gym, stores, restaurants, which by the way, that guy isn't much of a healthy one."

"Get on with it Shelley." Ray slapped him over the head.

Alex frowned, rubbing the back of his head before nodding. "Anyways, after it all, he went to where I assumed to be his home."

"And that helps us how?" Jay rolled his eyes.

"Oh come on, his house? It's a bit obvious." Alex stated.

"So you think they're keeping her in Punk's house?" Jay laughed. "That's a joke in itself."

"Not necessarily." Petey said.

"What do you?" Chris looked down at the younger Canadian.

"What I think Petey is trying to say is that while it may seem ludicrous, it was in Harris and Storm's apartment that we kept Tess in the first time." Scott stated hesitantly, not wanting to bring up the past too much.

"Wait, so your saying that she may actually be in there?" Jay scratched his neck.

"Possibly. But nothings for sure." Scott turned towards Alex. "Can you continue watching the house? Don't look suspicious, just do your thing. If anything looks odd, call one of us immediately."

"Do I get paid extra for this?" Alex asked.

"Yeah, you wont have us killing you." Ray joked.

"Fine fine, as long as I don't have to get introduced to a table I'm good." Alex stood with hands in front of him.

Jay rolled his eyes. "So we might have just found her? What happens next though?"

"Well, like Scott said, we'll watch over the house. And then we'll think of a plan to get her out." Adam shrugged. "It's a long shot, but it's a good one."

"I agree. We now at least have an idea of where she could be." Raven spoke up for the first time in almost a week.

Everyone starred at him before nodding in agreement.

"Alright, Alex, get on that. Get some stuff back to us pronto. We're all counting on you." Scott looked at Alex intently.

"Way to put pressure on a guy." Alex muttered before looking around at the desperate faces. Just looking at those expressions, it drove the joking side down, and made the determination stand on end. He'd find where she was. He was determined. If anyone knew anything about Alex Shelley, they knew that he never gave up on something he wanted. And he more than wanted to do this.

* * *

**A/N: alright its a bit short, but i wanted a short but sort of impactful chapter.**

**we saw a new side of Jarrett. now i know most of you hate him, but do you think he may actually be human? hm...suppose we may just see that...or not, you never know.**

**the reaction Tess gave was a bit mean, but exactly what he did to her, so it wasn't unexpected. i'm sure we all would have been snarky towards him. but with them spending time in one small space, could they possibly open up towards one another? hm...**

**and lastly, they may just be on the right road, the gang and all...but is it the right one?**


	82. Chapter Eighty One

**Chapter Eighty-One:**

* * *

_Chris' POV_

I walked around the Impact Zone alone, for the first time in a long time. No longer did I have anyone to greet, nor did I have anyone to look forward to seeing. Ever since that bastard Punk came in here and took over, I've lost everything. Tess, the woman I loved more than anything, was now gone. She was the best thing in my life, yet she was torn from my arms, never to return. It was all because he blackmailed me. And now I was stuck with my ex girlfriend, who I despised with a passion. No longer did I have any friends. I would rather to have that arrogant Styles around than to feel this sort of lonesomeness. There was once a time where I wanted, no, needed no one. All I wanted was to be left alone. But ever since Tess was forced into being my manager, I had become used to the constant company. Now there was nothing. There were no more quirky comments, no more fights. There was just silence. I was left alone in this god forsaken life with no one, where only months ago, I had more people than I could handle. How could that of all changed so quickly?

I shook my head, trying to tear the thoughts away. If I kept like this, I wouldn't be able to concentrate of the task at hand. As much as I wished I could converse with those I had become familiar with, I knew I couldn't. If I did, there would be consequences. Consequences in which I never wanted to happen. Punk found the dirtiest thing he could on me, and was prepared to show the ones I cared about most. I couldn't let that happen. I couldn't let this hurt Tess. I wouldn't let this hurt her. Even if I knew I would never be able to embrace her, never able to kiss those delicate lips ever again, I still, and will forever love her with all my heart.

"Daniels! What the hell is taking you so long!" Punk growled from farther down the hall.

I sighed and raised my head to glare at the other man. I hated him with a passion. Ever since the days of Ring Of Honor, we had hated each other. Nothing had changed of course. He was still the arrogant bastard he was then. But if possible, he had gotten worse. Maybe even worse than Jarrett was these days. But that could only be said due to large time spent with James Mitchell. Just an hour with that man changed you, and not for the better.

"Get the hell in here." Punk narrowed his eyes as I approached the door he was standing beside.

I shot him my own glare before slowly slipping into the door, wishing that this was just a bad nightmare, and somehow, there was a way to get out of this predicament.

_REG POV_

I tried lifting my body off the ground as the last round of kicks got to me. My breathing had faltered, making me search into my lungs for scarce breathes. My hair was plastered to my face, from the drying blood, and the damn environment. When I moved my hand to softly touch the side of my face, I couldn't help but whimper. I could feel the slick texture of blood transfer itself onto my hand. It brought tears to my eyes, knowing that a large portion of my face probably had the same feel. The sad part, which I still couldn't believe affected me this way, was that at the moment, Jarrett was getting ten times worse. I didn't trust myself to look over at where Storm and Abyss were taking care of Jarrett. The sounds alone made my stomach churn. I swore to myself that after all of this, I would make these people pay. Not only for my pain, but for Jarrett's as well. Just because I hated the man with every fiber in my body, it didn't stop me from feeling anger at them for doing this to him. I wouldn't wish this sort of treatment on any living being, even Jeff Jarrett.

"Had enough?" Punk's voice traveled down to me.

I winced as Punk's shin met my midsection, knocking me to my side, my back hitting the wall. I bit my lip to try from saying anything. I wanted to call him the most sinful names available, but I knew that if I did, the consequences would be deadly, and I was prepared to take them. So I lay there quietly as Punk sauntered off, motioning for Abyss and Storm to follow him out of the room. Once they were gone, I let out the breath I never knew I held in. These occurrences were happening more and more now that Jarrett wasn't out there to stop them. Ever since they turned their back on him, it seemed that almost every day, they would come in here, once or twice, and have a good old fun time watching us cry out in pain. It made me sick to know that there were people in the world who found amusement in treating people in this sort of way. I knew Jarrett was bad, and some of the stuff he's done was unforgivable, but Punk, no, Punk and Mitchell, they were much worse. Jarrett seemed like a small innocent child compared to those two monsters.

The small wince from across the room though, drew me from my thoughts. I looked sadly across the room. I knew I was rude to him when he 'tried' to help me. But in defense, it was the same thing he had done to me. That and I don't think I was truly understanding of why he was thrown in here. But now, nearing on two weeks later, I slowly began to falter from my anger towards him. Yes, I hated him, but I also felt sorry for him. After all of this, I had a family, friends, to go home to. What did Jarrett have? He had no one. No one deserved that sort of loneliness. I knew that loneliness, and no one should feel it. And yet he was, and was going to for a long time. His icy attitude, his bossy nature, his selfish ways, it scared everyone away. No one wanted to be close to the man, no one wanted to trust him. I understood that to a large degree. But a small part of me felt so much pity for him that it was almost unbearable. And at the moment, it was worse. There he was, ten times in much more pain then I was, and he had no one. Not only did he have physical pain, but also he had to go through knowing that the people, who he thought were friends, were now causing this kind of pain. That changes people, and definitely not for the better.

I couldn't help but sigh as I tried to move my body into a stable position. As my legs were probably the strongest part of my weak body at the moment, it was easy for me to slowly rise to my feet. Yet I leant against the wall once I was standing. My head was already spinning from the new altitude. Just from that short movement, my body felt so weak, that I wanted to crash back down to the ground. But I willed my self off of the wall and slowly staggered over to the other side of the room, just before the end if the bed that I remembered was occupying the area. It took much longer than expected, because after every step, I had to stop, and slowly take in a painful breath. But after a moment, I was able to continue on, only to follow suit in the previous action. Finally, after many minutes, I finally only was a few feet away from Jarrett's battered body. My stomach churned as I looked down at the man. I hated him, yet at the moment, I couldn't help but let that hate fix itself into the back of my mind. I didn't really know what I was doing, but somehow, I just did. I slowly fell onto my knees beside his body, noting that somewhere along the way, he had fallen unconscious. I looked over the injuries, and saw that most were just bruises, and such. The worse though, was the rather deep cut on his face. Starting at almost his hairline on his right side, the cut ran down to just underneath the tip of his cheekbone. It almost sickened me at the amount of blood streaming down the side of his head, creating a small puddle under his head. I swallowed that down though as I carefully put a hand underneath his head, lifting it out of the blood on the floor. I didn't really know what to do, so I just held it hovering over the dark red liquid. My eyes were transfixed on the liquid. It had grown used to it being my own. But seeing this much being poured out of my enemy, it struck a chord in my chest.

I wanted to hurt those people. Not the way they were doing to us, but I wanted to make them pay. As much as my head shot that thought down, my heart knew otherwise. When my head said that I'd never see the brink of day again, my heart told me that to just wait this out, that soon, I'd be back with my friends. And I knew that once that happened, hell was to be paid. I knew who I was friends with. And I certainly knew who my father was. By now, I was certain he knew of my kidnapping. And I was sure that he was planning something. To me, he was never a cruel hearted man, like many believed. But I knew, for the first time in my life, the things he did on TV, were going to come full force into reality, but ten times worse. If anyone knew the most ruthless, son of bitches in this business, it was my father. He knew who to contact, and he knew who he could trust to get the revenge that was needed. A small part of my heart, the part that was connected to my father, could already feel the wheels turning in his head, could already feel the revenge beginning to take force. And I was too happy about it.

But I tried to forget about all of that. Right now, I was here, stuck in this room, and I was trying to worry about that damn cut on Jarrett's face. Even I knew it was pretty bad. And I had no clue of any medical means. It was on instinct that I wanted to try to stop the blood flow from the cut, as like many of the movies had shown. But as I looked around the room, I had no clue as to what to use. I couldn't use the sheets on the bed, that seemed a bit unpractical. But what else was there? My eyes set on the nightstand beside the bed. It was a long shot, but what if? It was my only hope that there might be something in there that could help. So I slowly let Jarrett's head fall back into the blood, and drew myself back up to my feet. Already previously being used to the walking bit, it was much easier to walk the very short distance to the nightstand and bend down in front of it. I silently prayed to god that there was something useful in the drawer, before quickly whipping it open. As if a miracle happened, a messed up pile of tissues were lying amongst a book, and a few other things. I smiled and grabbed the wad before looking back over at the man. I shuddered as the blood overtook me again. I tried to forget about the smell it was protruding as I made my way back over into my previous position. Once there, I slowly, and carefully, took the wad of tissue paper, and placed it against the cut. Once I got over the odd feeling from the amount of blood, I put a bit more pressure on the cut. I was so into the job, that it nearly gave me a heart attack when a hand flew out and grabbed my wrist. I looked down in shock as Jarrett tore my hand off of the cut.

"Don't." he mumbled, eyes still closed.

I was speechless. I hadn't expected him to regain conscious. It would have made this so much easier if he were still asleep.

"I-I have to try to stop the blood flow." I told him, almost stumbling over the words.

"Hurts." He mumbled again.

"It's going to." I bit my lip, slowly taking his hand off my wrist, before putting the pressure back onto his cut.

I felt horrible as his face turned into a pained expression. I knew he was trying not to say anything, or show that he was hurting. Because if he did, I'm sure that he would actually show that he was human like the rest of us.

"Sorry." I told him unexpectedly.

He just remained silent. I didn't hold this against him. He was in pain, and he knew that if he spoke, more than words would be coming out.

"Stop." His voice said in a pleading tone. "Please."

I was a bit shocked at the last word, and moved my hand. I knew I should have kept the pressure, but at the fact that he said please, I couldn't but oblige. I heard him sigh as some of that pained expression went away.

"It's not going to stop bleeding unless there's pressure on it." I told him.

"I know. Just let me do it."

I didn't know why, but I set the bloodied tissues on the ground beside him. I slowly inched back as his eyes flashed open and his tried to maneuver his body into a sitting position. I was almost tempted to help him, but knew that if it were me, I wouldn't want him in usually such a simple task. So I sat there as he caused more pain by sitting and leaning against the bed. Keeping his eyes down, he picked up the tissues and brought them back to his head, where he winced as he applied the pressure to the cut. I wasn't sure what to do but sit there watching. I knew it was probably nerving him, but I didn't really feel like going to my usual corner. So I just sat there, bringing my knees up to my chest and wrapping my arms around them. Somehow, I felt less alone in this room when I sat near Jarrett. He was my enemy, yet at the moment, we were both in the same boat. Somehow it brought an odd comfort to know I wasn't alone in this room anymore.

"Thanks."

My eyes snapped to his face as he finished speaking that one word. It was shocked to say the least. I didn't, never expected him to say that. It didn't seem like something he would say, more or less ever in his life. Yet there he was, saying it. And finally, his intense blue eyes starred my own head on. Now his stare was nerving me. Those eyes just bore into mine. I couldn't look away; it was as if my eyes were glued in that direction.

"Are you okay?" his eyes moved from my eyes to where I suppose were the cuts on my face.

"Better than you." I replied softly.

"You should do the same." He nodded at the cut on the side of my own face.

I shook my head, though making me a touch dizzy.

"Hypocritical." He muttered.

I felt a touch of a defense coming from those words. "That's the only thing to use." I motioned towards the tissues in his hand.

Jarrett instantly removed the tissue from his head, folding a bit of it, and extended it out to me. I shook my head. Although I did admit my head was hurting, and the cut was bleeding pretty badly, it was nowhere close to Jarrett's.

"Take it." he sighed.

"No." I shook my head again.

"Stop refusing my help." He snapped.

"I'm not refusing your help. But you need it more than me." I defended.

He cocked his head to the side. I thought for a moment he would stop offering the tissues to me, but that quickly was shot down as he kept his hand outstretched.

"Just take it."

"No." I repeated.

I saw his eyes narrow at my stubbornness. His patience was warring thin, that I could clearly see. He eventually just dropped the tissues onto the ground between us, before crossing his arms.

"Well that's mature." I muttered.

"Just take the damn thing." He growled.

I prodded the wad of tissues towards him, shaking my head.

"Stop being ignorant McMahon." He growled again.

I narrowed my eyes at his tone before grabbing the tissues. I didn't use them for myself though. On the contraire. I slid my body to Jarrett's side, careful of the pool of blood on the floor of course, and put the wad of tissues on his cut. Jarrett winced back, though not of pain, but yet of the art of surprise. I'm pretty sure I shocked both him and myself when I did that.

"What the hell are you doing?" he asked quietly.

"I don't like looking at people who have blood pouring down the side of their face." I stated simply.

Jarrett narrowed his eyes as he grabbed my wrist, moving the tissues away from his cut. I glared at him as he forced the tissues out of my hand.

"I don't like looking at someone with blood pouring down the side of their face either." He growled as he put the tissues on my cut now.

I nearly jumped back at the impact.

"Oh just sit still McMahon." He rolled his eyes.

I bit my lip as pain racked through me. I hadn't been expecting him to do that. It wasn't really the pain that surprised me, but yet the fact that he was doing this, the same thing I did to him.

"Stop squirming." He sighed as I tried to flinch away from the tissues.

I sent him a small glare as he moved his other hand up, resting on the back of my head. I frowned as Jarrett applied more pressure to my cut. I had to admit that it hurt. It hurt a lot. It was the first time pressures really been applied to any of my cuts, so I wasn't used to it. I was actually a tad ashamed. I felt like I was acting weaker than Jarrett at this point. And I hated that.

"Please stop." I pleaded softly, my low pain tolerance getting the better of me. "It hurts."

"Like you said earlier, we have to stop the bleeding, or it could get worse." He quoted me.

"Please." I could feel my body begin to shake.

I didn't know why, but I suddenly began to feel very weak. Maybe it was because of all the events that had happened in the last few minutes, or maybe my cut. But nonetheless, I felt colder than normal, and my hands began to go clammy.

"What…?" Jarrett he looked at me oddly.

I looked down at I tried to will myself to stop. But I couldn't.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"I-I don't know." I answered truthfully, feeling my eyes droop.

I felt Jarrett move his hand from the back of my head to my back as I began to lose the ability to keep myself up right. The next thing I knew though, I was unconscious.

* * *

**A/N: i blame the internet. i had this all done last night, but my internet when off, so i wasnt able to post it until now.**

**wow...so alot of stuff happened. we finally got a bit of Chris in here, and as for Tess and Jarrett, alot of stuff going on. will what happened here in this chapter, change the the two? hm...i guess we'll just have to find out...but dont worry, more is bound to be on its way :)**


	83. Chapter Eighty Two

**Chapter Eighty-Two:**

"Ow." I moaned as I touched my back.

"That's what you get for rolling off the bed." Jarrett rolled his eyes from across the room.

I shot him a glare before looking up at the comfortable bed I must have fallen off, jerking me awake. I mumbled a few curses at it before slowly maneuvering to my feet. Afterwards, I felt exhausted, and just sat back down on the bed.

"How long was I out for?" I asked, putting my head in my hands, the pounding still there.

"For awhile." Jarrett shrugged.

I sighed. As much as I wished I didn't, I remembered everything that happened previous to my passing out. I wished it was just a dream, but I knew it wasn't. Why did I help him? Why did I feel the need to make sure he was okay? And why did he do the same? All these questions were getting the better of me, making my pounding head hurt even more.

"Are you alright?" Jarrett asked, slowly making his way towards the bed.

"No." I mumbled, closing my eyes to try and stop the pounding.

I felt Jarrett's presence close, and oddly enough, I never flinched when he slowly removed my hands from my head. Not looking at me in the eye, he slowly moved my head to the side, taking a glance at my cut. I cringed as he traced the skin bedside the red cut, creating a pins and needle effect.

"Your cut looks pretty bad." He mused.

"Not as bad as yours." I muttered as he took his hand off of me.

"I'm not the one who passed out." He smirked.

"Fuck off." I narrowed my eyes.

"Just stating a fact." He shrugged.

I rolled my eyes. "You're a jackass you know that."

"I know." He nodded.

"Then could you go away?" I sighed.

"Sorry, kind of stuck in here to." He folded his arms and smirked down at me.

This was beginning to become too annoying.

"Well then could you go like over there…"

"Shut up." He glared down at me then looked over at the door.

I raised an eyebrow. "Don't tell me to shut up. I don't appreciate that…"

I growled as a hand fell over my mouth.

"Shush." He glared back at me.

I was tempted to bit his hand, but decided against it. I just did what he asked, and remained quiet. Yet, I still was not sure of why I was being told to be quiet. Seconds later though, I understood clearly.

"_Abyss, you'll take care of Jarrett, make sure he doesn't get involved." _Punk's voice came from the other side of the door. _"Now you two, go for Tess. I don't care if she struggles, just hit her a few times, it'll shut her up. Then take her out to the car. You may have to knock her unconscious in the process. Got it?"_

My eyes widened as Jarrett removed his hand from my mouth. I knew this wasn't good. Why did they want me in a car? What was going on? I couldn't stop to think though, because the next thing we knew, Punk had smashed into the room. Abyss immediately flew over to Jarrett, grabbing him and smashing him into the opposite wall. My eyes widened as Harris and Storm walked towards me with sadistic smiles. I immediately got off the bed and walked away. But soon, my back hit the wall, leaving me nowhere to go.

* * *

POV OFF

* * *

Jarrett's eyes widened as he saw Harris and Storm grab onto a struggling Tess. An odd thing happened to him, and he felt the need to try to help her, to try to protect her. He didn't know why, and it only confused him more. But at the moment, he didn't care. He was too focused in trying to get Abyss off of him and make his way towards the scared girl. He was sorely disappointed though as Abyss grabbed him once more, and practically threw him across the room. He groaned as he made impact with the wall and floor. He grabbed onto his side, trying to figure out if there was any immediate Injury. It just happened that at that moment, a crashing sound happened across the room. Jarrett looked up and soon wished he didn't as he saw Tess lying on the ground, glass around her, bleeding from that same cut once more. He looked away as Harris picked her up in his arms and carried her out of the room. Jarrett wanted to stop them, yet he didn't know how. If he tried moving from this spot, Abyss would surely attack him again. And as much as he felt the need to help her, he also didn't want to risk any danger to himself. He was there in a crossroad, and didn't know what to do except lie there, feeling horrible. A feeling that he had almost forgotten about.

* * *

"Joy another Pay-Per View." Ray sighed. "Am I the only one who seems to be getting tired of all of this."

"No." Terry shook his head, sitting beside the man.

"It seems so weird not to have Tess around tonight." Jeff muttered from the other side of the locker room.

Terry looked over at the rainbow headed man. "She's still here in spirit Jeff."

"I just wish she was really here. I know we have a lead on where she is, but it's driving me crazy not being able to see her, talk to her." Jeff bowed his head, missing his best friend.

"Your not the only one." AJ patted him on the back.

"I think we all feel the same way." Jay agreed. "But we'll get through this. We'll find her, and we'll kick that bastard's ass. They wont get away with this."

"Oh no. And that starts tonight." Devon cracked his knuckles. "Ray and Devon have a crack at the tag titles, Jay is defending his title against Jarrett, and Petey takes on Punk. I'm pretty happy."

"You forgot that I get to take on that bastard of a monster Abyss." Terry smirked.

"I gotta say, revenge does feel sweet." Jay mused.

"Did someone say revenge?" the unexpected voice of Stone Cold Steve Austin rang through the room.

All eyes fell to the locker room door as the rattlesnake leant against the doorframe, Benoit at his side.

"Benoit and I were just discussing a few things. Seems your match isn't alone anymore Terry." Austin stated.

"How's that?" Terry asked confused.

"Tag against Abyss and a mystery opponent." He shrugged. "But any excuse to give someone the trusty stunner, I'm liking."

"Stunner and the gore, well that match is a given as to who will win." Adam smirked. "Speaking of which, Chrissy, you and I, and Eric have a six man tag match against Diamonds In The Rough. Gay tag team, but meh."

"Nice to finally get back in the ring and actually wrestle." Chris nodded.

"Crippler back in action. I feel sorry for DITR." Ray shook his head a smile on his lips.

"Crossface comes back into use." Chris cracked his knuckles, creating a laugh out of the room.

"This night is starting to turn around…whoa, where's the fire Alex?" AJ raised an eyebrow as Alex flew into the room breathlessly.

Alex almost tripped over the carpet, but Austin grabbed onto his neck and righted him on his feet. Alex sent him a small nod before looking around the room excitedly.

"Where's Scott?" Alex asked.

"Right behind you." Scott maneuvered around the young man. "What is it Alex?"

"Well…" Alex took a large breath before continuing. "Guess who I just followed here?"

"Who…?"

"Punk and AMW." Alex grinned. "And guess who was with them."

"Jarrett?" Petey shrugged.

"Tess."

* * *

"Guys, quiet down, look." Jeff stopped the talk later that night in the hallway, as Sacrifice was an hour into production.

The group immediately stopped and looked at the monitor, where the camera had turned towards the back, and inside a locker room actually.

"The Impact Zone, TNA fans around the world, and more importantly, all those friends of Tess McMahon, welcome to my locker room." Punk's smirking face came into view. "You see, I decided that while last PPV was an interesting debut, I wanted to shock the world for my second PPV appearance. And that's what I'm just intending to do."

"Oh I want to kill him." Terry clenched his fists.

"Calm down." Ray murmured to him.

Terry sighed but nodded, knowing that it would do no good.

"So I would like to introduce you to, a new friend of mine. I'm pretty sure you all know her. She is your TNA Women's champion is she not?" The camera fixated on the far corner of the room where Tess was lying, bruised, battered, and bloodied. It was easy to tell she was conscious as she tried to move, but found it too painful. "As you can see, she's currently not in a state to talk. But I'm sue she'd send a nice hello out to all her friends out there." Punk laughed as Storm sent a swift kick into the midsection of Tess, making her fall back to the ground. "Now for a more important matter. See, you decided to bring in Stone Cold Steve Austin to help in your little renegade. But you forget that you're dealing with two of the most sadistic minds in this business, James Mitchell and myself. So don't forget that. See, tonight, there's going to be a few surprises, and believe me; you're going to be surprised. But that's all for now. Until later."

The camera feed went black as the men in the hallway sat there silently. No one could believe what they had just seen. And no one could hide the sadness in their eyes. They couldn't believe that the usually strong Tess was lying there, battered and beaten. It tore their hearts to know this was happening to her, and they couldn't do anything to help her.

"He's going to die." Chris growled.

All eyes fell on him, a bit surprised at the outburst. Those who knew Chris knew he never had the rigid dangerous side to him. He was always the calm one who try to keep order. But now a new side of him was coming out. A side that they all were beginning to get. They all wanted revenge on that bastard. They wanted nothing more than to get their hands around his neck and to squeeze until every ounce of breath was taken from his body. It was agreed by them all silently, that even if it were the last thing any of them would do, it would be done.

"Guys, she's here. Maybe we can find her." Eric suggested in a small voice.

Adam's eyes widened opening his mouth to speak.

"Good idea Eric." Jay took the words out of Adam's mouth.

Eric smiled, thankful he could finally be helpful.

"I swear to god, if I find her, I'm killing them all." Terry stood, in agreement.

"Alright, should we split up?" Jeff looked at their rather large group.

"Would be the best. We'll go to he parking lot, in case they try anything." Ray pointed at Devon, himself, Austin, and Jeff.

"We'll go this way." Adam pointed to the right before pointing at himself, Jay, Eric, Petey and AJ.

"And we'll look everywhere else." Terry nodded; looking at the remaining men of Chris, and Raven.

"Alright, lets go then." Devon stated.

Seconds later, the three groups left in their own way. Ray, Devon, Jeff, and Austin stood in the parking lot, waiting and looking around. It was easy for those four to do this area, as they all had a street edge to them. That and they all wanted to kick ass, but not the conventional way. Definitely not Austin. The second team slowly walked down the halls, opening doors, and looking into empty locker rooms. Yet nothing. The last team, were probably the most intense. They didn't care who they pushed out of the way as they flew down the halls, looking for Tess. Raven, being the more impatient one of the trio, decided to leave the two, and went on his own. He knew the ins and outs of every single inch of this building, probably better then them all combined. If anyone would be able to find Tess, he could. And indeed, he did. After about ten minutes of searching, he saw the room in which AMW was slowly protruding from, probably getting ready for their match. After they rounded a corner, no one else with them, Raven shot towards the door. Yet he didn't go in yet. He just listened. It broke his almost nonexistent heart when he heard a females cry coming from the room. That drove him over the edge. That drove him to the brink of insanity. With that, Raven tore into the room.

"Get the hell away from her." Raven growled with emotion as Punk slowly turned.

"Wow, good job. Didn't think you of all people would find her. You never were good at finding people." Punk smirked, kicking Tess one last time before turning his attention fully to Raven.

"You're going to pay you bastard." Raven held a fierce rage in his eyes.

"You may have to wait." Punk nodded behind him.

Raven slowly looked over his shoulder, seeing Abyss and Mitchell standing there. Before he could fully turn to take a shot at the two, they were hit from behind. Mitchell immediately was tossed back out of the room, leaving view for Benoit and Terry. Terry and the crippler soon began hitting, kicking, and everything they could to back the monster off. While he was being distracted, Raven turned back towards Punk, who still held that smirk. With every ounce of hate, he jumped at Punk, sending him to the ground. Whatever he could hit, he did. He smashed his head against the ground, wall, bench, whatever. He wanted to make him feel the worse pain he ever could, and make him feel it over and over again. He didn't deserve to breath on this earth.

"Raven." Chris put a hand on his shoulder. "Enough."

Raven growled but nodded, slowly getting up and backing away from the unconscious bastard. He then turned his glance to Terry who was kneeling beside Tess.

"Tess? Its okay, its Terry. You're going to be okay." Terry laid a hand on her shoulder.

Tess flinched at the touch, but looked up at him.

"Terry…" she said softly before falling unconscious.

"Lets get her out of here." Chris looked around, feeling hate and anger in this room. "She needs to get to a hospital."

Terry nodded as he slowly took the delicate body of Tess and brought her into his arms. He slowly lifted her up, and soon, the three left the room, never giving a glance back.

* * *

**A/N: YES! they found her :D i'm so happy...anyways. so they found her, but whats next? will she be able to get back into the swings of things, or will someone have to help her? and if so, who?**

**lastly, what will happen with Jarrett now? i know most dont like him, but will there be any one who will try to help him?**

**for the final note, go check out the blog on my myspace (link is in my homepage link in my profile), if you go to the bottom of my latest one, theres a puzzle to figure out. if you get it right, you may just understand the fate of the story, or you may not. have fun**


	84. Chapter Eighty Three

**Chapter Eighty-Three:**

"Is she going to be okay?" Terry asked the doctor before glancing into the room Chris was now sitting in with the unconscious Tess.

The doctor sighed. "We're hoping. She does have a few cuts that are worrying us a bit. The main one is the one located on her head. As she was just getting over her last injury, there's no saying how much this will affect that."

Terry paled. "Other than that?"

"Other than that, we think she'll be fine. Though there might be other complications." The doctor looked into the room as well.

"Such as?" Terry asked.

"Well, with what Ms. McMahon has gone through, we cannot predict how exactly, she will be able to handle everything…mentally and emotionally."

"What are you saying?"

The doctor sighed again. "She may not exactly be the same person after she wakes up. After an experience such as Tess went through, there have been different side effects. Some become withdrawn, others have a tendency to become of afraid of, in this case, men, and some just wont trust anyone. There are of course worse cases, those are just the best case scenarios."

Terry stood there in silence. He didn't exactly know what to say. He knew she wouldn't be the same after this. But he was scared of to what extent of her will be changed.

"But don't worry about that for now. We still have to get her injuries healed, and the main problem, which would be the cut on her head, out of the way." The doctor laid a hand of Terry's shoulder. "I've been Ms. McMahon's doctor for a long time now, ever since she first started in your company, I haven't seen many people as strong as she. She'll make it through this fine." The doctor assured him.

Terry nodded, though doubting the words the doctor spoke. He knew Tess better than most of them, and he knew she would never be the same. He just wasn't sure how he would handle it.

"I have to go fill out some paper work on Ms. McMahon's case, but I'll be back in a little bit to check on her."

"Thanks." Terry nodded.

The doctor gave him a small smile before turning and walking down the hall. Terry sighed and turned back to the room, watching as Chris took Tess' hand, squeezing it comfortingly. It was clear that Chris was feeling the same way as Terry, as he too, loved the girl just as much as he did. They were too close to her to not consider her family. And when a member of a family was hurt, they were all hurt.

"How is she?" Raven's gruff voice came from behind him.

Terry glanced over his shoulder at the frowning man. "The doctor said the only things we have to worry about it the main cut on her head, and then…"

"Then what?"

Terry looked back into the room. "Then the after affects."

"That was clear. After what Tess has gone through, I'm sure she'll be changed mentally."

"That's reassuring."

Raven shrugged. "It's the truth. I already expected it to happen."

"Well some of us are trying to hope it doesn't happen." Terry glared back at him.

Raven rolled his eyes. "Stop being in denial Terry. We don't know what she went through. But we all know it's probably horrible."

"I know." He grumbled before stomping into the room, not wanting to hear Raven's annoying voice at the moment.

"I heard what the doctor said, I'm sure everything will work out fine." Chris told his long time friend as Terry sat down on the other side of Tess and took her free hand.

"I guess."

"Just keep positive." Chris sent him a small smile.

"Easy for you to say." Terry sighed. "I'm not like you Chris, I can't stay calm. I get angry and want to hurt people."

"Keep it for the ring." Chris stated before looking down at his watch. "Speaking of which, what are we going to do about the PPV? My match is in half an hour, and yours is before mine."

"I'm not leaving her alone." Terry shook his head.

"I'll stay with her until your matches are over." Raven stood in the doorway.

Terry raised an eyebrow. "No."

"Terry." Chris shot him a look.

"No. I don't trust him."

Raven glared at him; though a touch of him deep inside was a bit hurt.

"He was the one who found the locker room. And you saw what he did to Punk. I'm sure if anyone tried anything, he'd take them out. Just let him stay. It's the only choice we have. We can't miss our matches." Chris reasoned.

Terry frowned, not liking this.

"What am I going to do wrong, stare at her?" Raven rolled his eyes.

Terry shot a glare at him.

"Come on you two. Terry, we have matches to get to. After they're done, well come back." Chris stated.

Terry thought for a moment before catching the look on Chris' face. He eventually sighed and nodded.

"Fine but…" Terry stopped as he heard a moan. He shot a quick look at the other two before back at Tess, who had started to move slightly.

Seconds later, the deep blue eyes fluttered open, creating smiles on at least two of the three men.

"Tess." Terry smiled, relieved that she woke up.

Tess blinked a few times before seeing Terry looking down at her.

"Hi." She said softly.

"How are you doing sweetie?" Chris asked, smiling softly down at her.

"Sore." She replied.

"That's to be expected after everything." Terry nodded. "I talked to the doctor and he said that you'll be fine."

Chris shot a look at him, questioning him almost. Terry gave a small shake of the head, as if to say that it wasn't the time to be telling the complete truth. Chris just shrugged, figuring he was right.

"You two should get going." Raven said from the doorway.

"We can wait." Terry glared at him.

"Raven's right, we should head back to the arena." Chris looked over at Tess. "We'll be back right after our matches. Raven will give you some company while we're gone. Just rest up. You look like you need it."

Tess nodded.

"We'll see you soon sweetie." Terry stood and bent over to kiss her forehead. "I'm happy to have you back."

"So are we all." Chris as well stood with a nod. "We'll let the guys know your awake, they're all probably going crazy right about now."

"But we'll be back nonetheless." Terry assured.

"Okay." She replied barely above a whisper.

Terry and Chris exchanged looks before slowly exiting the room, leaving only Tess and now Raven.

"What did the doctor really say?" Tess asked softly, trying to sit up.

Raven slowly walked into the room and sat down lazily in one of the empty chairs.

"He said you'd be fine for the most part except mostly for your head injury due to that cut." He nodded at her. "And then he said that it'll just be the after affects."

"After affects?" she asked, confused.

Raven opened his mouth to reply, but found no words. He wasn't exactly sure how to tell her that she might have a few mental or emotional problems after this. The sad part was that he already saw them beginning to take effect. Most of the times, while in the hospital, Tess was cherry and upbeat, but now, she seemed quieter, shy even. Maybe even to go as far as she was scared. It nearly broke his mangled up heart when he looked at her usually vibrant blue eyes to see not happiness, but pain. Every inch of her blue orbs held pain, and worst of all, fear. It tore him up inside to know that someone he considered a friend, was feeling such raw emotions.

Yet somehow, he knew what she was feeling. He too had been hurt by people he trusted before. He too had been tortured. He too had been betrayed. Even now, he still felt the pain from it. He still feared to trust, as she was now starting to do.

"You look tired. Why don't you rest for a bit and we'll talk later all right?" he changed the subject quickly.

"Why? Your never one to change a subject like that? What after affects?" she asked, her eyes widening a bit.

"Its nothing. Just go to sleep Tess, you need it."

Tess, feeling a touch annoyed that not even Raven would tell her the truth, simply nodded and laid back down in the bed. She faced her head in the other direction; trying to reduce the intense stare Raven was giving her. But it didn't cease. It in fact, got even stronger. But she soon forgot about the stares as sleep began to take over her. In minutes Raven found himself once again alone as Tess was now sleeping away in the hospital bed.

"I swear I'm not going to let those bastards hurt you again." Raven muttered, brushing a few strands of hair away from her face.

It was then that he noticed how innocent she looked while sleeping. Without looking at the cuts and bruises on her face, she almost looked normal while sleeping. She was just her; innocent and beautiful. And Raven was dead set on not letting anyone take that away again. He swore with his distorted mind that he would hurt anyone who tried to do the same to Tess. He didn't care if he was out of character, or if anyone didn't like it. Tess had been the only one who gave a damn about him at all. It was about time he returned the favor.

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**A/N: finally got this updated...had a few writing problems, but for the most part, i have a rough idea of where to go now...hehehe...your all gonna hate me in the near future, but i'm sure the love will come back later on. for now, enjoy, there will definitely be more to come**


	85. Chapter Eighty Four

**Chapter Eighty-Four:**

"Stupid ribs." I grumbled as my eyes fluttered open.

"Awake already?" Raven looked at amused.

I shot a glare to him as I slowly sat up in the bed.

"Its not easy sleeping when your whole body is in pain you know." I stated.

"Well you did it before." He smirked.

"Yeah well…that was then and this is now." I folded my arms before catching site of a familiar show on the Television in the room. "Is that the PPV?"

Raven's eyes flickered over to the TV he had hardly been watching. He nodded with a sigh. The nurses had brought the TV not too long ago, figuring he would want to watch the show. He actually wanted the opposite. He wanted to never see this show, never witness it, as it held memories he didn't want to remember. He never wanted to see that pained Tess in that room again. He just wanted to forget it every happen.

"Raven?" I asked cautiously, noticing his glare at the TV. "Everything alright?"

"Peachy." He muttered.

I raised an eyebrow before turning my attention back to the TV. A small smile fell on my face as Chris made that arrogant Simon Diamond tap to the Crossface. It was nice to see him in TNA, a place where I knew he'd be able to shine brighter than he ever did in WWE, just as the other guys had.

"Its nice to see that again." I said quietly.

"See what?" Raven looked at me.

"That. Chris winning the right way." I nodded at the TV before pausing for a moment. "I missed you guys."

Raven was about to agree with me before stopping, thinking about the last part I had just said.

"They missed you too." Raven told me.

I cocked my head to the side and looked at him. "They, meaning you didn't?"

Raven opened his before closing it back up. For once in his long life, he didn't have anything to say, no come back, no witty remark, nothing. He eventually gruffly looked away.

"I did." He said almost incoherently.

I smiled, already know what he said. It made me somewhat happy actually, yet I wasn't sure why.

"Terry is up next." Raven grumbled, trying to change the subject.

I stifled a laugh with an eye roll as I turned my attention back to the TV. I grinned as Rhino ran into the ring, and then posing for the fans, in which were going absolutely crazy. I missed that. I missed being able to wrestle. It felt like years, but it had only been over a month and a half or so. Though what shocked me, was the man who was introduced as his partner.

"Stone Cold Steve Austin…in TNA…am I dreaming?" my mouth fell open as the familiar man walked out onto the stage.

"No. He came a few weeks back." Raven answered, shrugging his shoulders.

"I'll thank my father for that one." My shock grew into a smirk. Punk was screwed now. How could anyone take down the rattlesnake? I made a mental note to do just what I had said; thank my father. He was trying to help take down Punk. And he was making a statement. With both Adam and Chris on the show now, it was huge. But adding Steve, this just got crazy.

"Who are they fighting?" I asked.

"Abyss and some mystery opponent." He replied.

I frowned. Punk had something up his sleeve. I felt it. But what? Who did he have that he could bring in? Yes, there were probably a lot. But who exactly? But I was about to find out, because coming down to the ring now was Abyss, and the ever so frightening James Mitchell. I shuddered as I saw them, memories of being in that room coming forth. Raven must have seen this because he questioned me.

"You okay?" he asked before looking at the TV and back again. "Let me guess they hurt you."

I looked down at my lap and nodded.

"Hey." He put a finger under my chin and lifted it so I was looking him in the eye. "They're not going to get away with what they did to you."

"Thanks." I smiled weakly.

"You don't have to thank us. Its part of our jobs as friends." He shrugged.

"So you do care? Wow, shocker." My smile grew larger.

"Shut up." He glared softly before turning his attention back to the TV.

I rolled my eyes before doing so to. Though I almost wished I hadn't. The camera was now panning from the ring, to the titan-tron, where Punk was on the screen. My body stiffened as I saw him, in the same room that I had been in previously. As he began to speak, I started to shake from the memories.

"Tess?" Raven looked over at me concerned.

My hearing was dead set on the low volume on the TV though.

_"Apparently, you find it humorous to ruin my plans." Punk spat. "You may have grabbed McMahon out of my grasps, but that doesn't mean all my plans are going down the drain. See I still have some surprises in store for you. Surprises, in which, begin now. As we all know, we have a little bind. Who is going to be Abyss' partner? Well, allow me to do the honors. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome back to TNA…Brian Lee!"_

My face paled as I saw Brian Lee come out on stage before making his way to the ring, where Mitchell was waiting with that sadistic smirk. Wishing to not see or hear anymore, I closed my eyes tightly. This wasn't going to be good. I had seen Brian Lee work before, and with the three sadists on one side of the ring, I was beginning to worry.

"Tess?" a hand cupped my cheek. "Look at me."

My eyes slowly drew open only to see Raven standing beside my bed, looking down at me in concern.

"Are you feeling okay? Your as cold as ice." His other hand touched my bare arm.

"I-I'm fine." I muttered, but knew otherwise.

"No your not. You got this way after seeing Punk. What did he do to you that did this? I've never seen you like this. When you saw him on TV, you looked so scared. What did the bastard do to you?"

I pushed his hand off my face and looked down at my lap again.

"Tess?"

"I'm getting tired again." I mumbled, moving slowly down in the bed until my head touched the pillows.

"Tess.." he sighed.

"Night." She grumbled before turning over.

Raven sighed before sitting down, looking defeated. He wasn't getting anywhere with her. He thought maybe he could be the one she'd talk to, as he as well was a tortured soul. But she wouldn't budge. She was stubborn as anything. Or was it fear? Was it fear that if she told him, that he would hold it against her? Why, Raven didn't know. But he cursed Punk for doing this. He cursed them all for hurting the woman that had always been strong and brave, but never scared.

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**Raven's POV **

"Raven? Raven? Wake up." A voice fell through my ears.

I was shaken awake as my eyes slowly drew open. I groaned as pain swept through my head, as if I was hit over the head repeatedly.

"Dude are you okay?" the concerned face of Jeff Hardy came into view.

It was now that I realized I was on the ground, and not the chair I was in previously. I narrowed my eyes as I tried to remember what had happened, how I had gotten down here, and why my head was in immense pain.

"What happened?" Chris asked, trying to calm down Terry, who was kicking the furniture in the ring, and about to rip the machines from their places. "Where's Tess?"

My body snapped up at this. I ignored any pain I was feeling and looked around the room, full of people, before finally settling on the bed. Or rather, the empty bed. Wires lay free as the sheets were torn off, as well as the pillow was now in the middle rather than the top. Tess was gone. That was when the memory came back. When I remembered what had happened before I blacked out. This drove me insane. I couldn't believe those bastards did that. Well I could, but I didn't think any human being could be this…cruel. And this was coming from a sadist himself.

"Raven?" Jeff shook me from my anger.

I pushed his body away as I stood up and looked around once more, as if looking for clues to where she could have been taken. But like the fool I was, I couldn't find anything, not that I expected to.

"What happened?" Chris repeated.

I fell into a chair that hadn't been wrecked by the ticking time bomb, terry, and felt the exhaustion that was finally paying its due from the many years of never slowing down.

"Raven?" Chris gave me a questioning look.

"They took her." I growled

"Who took her?" Jeff asked.

"Slash and Sinn." My eyes narrowed and glared at the bed, as if it were Punk himself.

"What?" Terry had stopped and now was looking at me.

"Punk must have pulled out more of his lackeys." AJ gripped the bed rail tightly as he looked down at the bed longingly.

"I don't get it though." Ray looked confused. "How?"

"They came in here. She was asleep; I was watching the pay per view. My attention was on something else, and they came up from behind me and hit me over the head with something, metal I think. With all the punishment I've taken, that was nothing, so I was up on my feet in seconds. But they must have remembered that from the past, so they sent slash to knock out Tess, who had started to awaken, while Sinn took care of me. I must of blacked out as they took Tess." I was growling by the end of the explanation, fists clenched tightly, knuckles going completely white.

"No." Terry's eyes widened. "No."

"I can't believe them." Chris said barely above a whisper. "First he brings people from the past, and Ring Of Honor in, and now he re-kidnaps her."

"He's going to die." Terry's rage returned.

"Who came?" Raven looked up wondering. "And what the hell happened with the pay per view?"

"In short, we won our match." Austin replied, point at he and Terry. "But apparently a punk by the name of Julio Dinero came down to try to take us down."

My body stiffened. Now both men who had betrayed me were back in this company. Even if this Tess situation wasn't happening, I would be more than satisfied to kick both of their asses, for the way they ruined a great faction.

"I came down to stop him. Leading to a match which he won." AJ growled angrily.

"Then Petey went out for a match against Punk, Eric, and Adam went with. Petey tried to do his best, but Punk won. The belt and everything. But that's not the worst part. Those Embassy guys had interfered, and poor Shelley thought he could take them on his own with Adam and Eric both knocked out." Chris sighed sadly. "They're in the hospital as well, Petey and Alex. Scott is with them."

"What happened with my match?" my eyes remained the same, angry.

"Punk taunted you, but said your surprise will be waiting for you at the impact tapings." Jeff answered.

"And the rest?"

"Jay's match should be any minute now." Chris grabbed Terry by the arm as he went to pick up the heart monitor. "Terry! Stop it!"

"I'm not going to fucking stop it Chris. They took her. They're going to pay. I'm going to tear their bodies apart one by one by my bare hands." He glared dangerously at his long time friend.

"Fine, but stop wrecking this room unless you want to be kicked out." Chris glared right back, not staggering from the intensity.

The two continued to glare at one another until Terry finally sighed and plopped down in a chair across from me, looking tired, and much older than he really was.

"Where do you think she is?" Jeff asked as the room became silent.

"Punk's house. That's what Shelley said before wasn't it?" Devon spoke up, for the first time since arriving.

"Can we really trust that though?" Ray asked.

"It's the best thing we've got. We need to figure out a plan soon. Or we may not have a Tess to save." Chris said sadly, though determination in his eyes.

"Chris is right, we need to get our heads into gear and…"Jeff started before looking at the TV as Jarrett's music had begun to play, but no one had appeared yet. "Whats going on?"

My eyes slowly went to the TV and rose and eyebrow as the lights dimmed in the impact zone, confusing not only us, but Jay as well in the ring.

"That's not his usual entrance." Devon looked at the screen confused.

That's when Punk came up through the tunnel, smirk plastered on his face, mic in hand. As I saw him, I wanted to grab onto the TV and just rip it to threads. I saw terry also wanted to do so, as Chris was now holding him down in the chair.

_"My fellow Americans, international fans, Cage, all your little friends who I presume are at the hospital for McMahon at the moment and not with you. Bad move on their part of course. But then again, I'm sure they're watching this now, and wondering…where is dear Tess? Incase that man you refer to as a friend, Raven, hasn't remembered yet. I've taken back what was mine. That's right. McMahon is once again, under my control, and is currently on the way to a disclosed location. But, that's in the past. About this match coming up. You see, I originally came to TNA as a hit man for Jeff Jarrett. See I was ordered to get into the mind of the youngest McMahon, and then to get her to leave TNA. Unfortunately, the tables turned, and we had to resort to physical violence. Don't get me wrong; she's not gone yet. But by the time I'm done, she'll be back with her daddy in no time. But as well, a few complications arose during our ingenious scheme, a certain someone decided to grow a conscious. So we had to do what we had to do, and Mr. Jarrett unfortunately enough, wont be wrestling again, for a very…very…long time to come."_

For once, I was shocked to say the fans in the building were booing, even from the last statement. I was shocked as well. That bastard, he even betrayed the person who hired him.

_"So as Jarrett cant participate in this match. I called in a long time friend to replace him. So ladies and gentlemen, please welcome to the impact zone, Steve Corino!"_

"Fuck." I growled, knowing just how badly Corino was, having faced him on numerous occasions.

"Crap." Terry whispered, knowing just as well as me, of how sadistic Corino was and how dangerous he was.

"Is there anyone at the arena, that can help him?" Jeff asked in wide eyes.

"We're either all in this room, or in the hospital beds." Chris shook his head. "We should have left someone behind."

"Got it covered." Ray shook his head, taking out his cell phone.

"What are you going to do?" Austin asked, breaking his silence.

Ray hushed him as he brought the phone to his ear. "B.G.? Ray, you're watching the PPV? Good…we don't know where she is. Yeah we need help. Grab a few of the boys from backstage, and make sure Jay isn't alone. Get Konnan and his boys even. Get over the fight B.G.; this is for Tess, not for anyone else. Konnan liked the girl, so just go. Please. All right, thanks man. We'll talk to you soon."

"B.G. James?" Austin asked. "Called in the ex members of DX didn't you?"

"Hey, why not. They're getting the boys together, Kip, Naturals I think, some of the X Division, Killings." Ray sighed.

I shook my head. "No. Not going to work."

"What do you mean not going to work." Devon questioned.

"You need someone with the same mindset, or close, to Corino and punk. Someone who has fought Corino. Give me the damn phone." I held out a hand, wishing I didn't have to call the person I knew I had to.

"What why?" Ray asked.

"Just give it to me." I growled.

He shrugged and handed me the phone. I took a deep breath before pressing the numbers and bringing the phone to my ear.

"Douglas? Its Raven…what the hell do you think I want? You've seen the PPV, I know you have. And I know you know Tess. Yeah yeah, I'm asking for help, don't get all excited…well?…yeah whatever, do it for Tommy or whoever you want to. Just get it done."

"Who was that?" Jeff looked down at me.

"Shane Douglas." I answered.

"I thought you two had a bad history/" AJ looked confused.

"We do. But right now I don't really care." I glared at AJ. "Its time to screw over rivalries if we want to get her back. Or like Chris said, before we lose her."

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**A/N: i know i know, i havent updated this in awhile...but ive had major writers block. i finally got some inspiration out of nowhere, and finally finished this chapter...the nexts ones are to come, as i already have the next one written, and the one after that almot written.**

**What shocker eh? they kidnapped Tess again...bastards...now i wonder how this is going to go over with Tess...is it going to drive her more into an emotional break down or what?**

**And what about the new arrivals...Brian Lee, Slash, Sinn, Julio Dinero, The Embassy (yes i know they hated Punk and so on in ROH...but ah...they well, you'll find out soon enough)...Steve Corino...which might have been the biggest shock...oh, but what about this "surprise" punk has for raven? i wonder what, or rather who, it is...any guesses?**

**But don't feel safe yet, there are more twists and turns to come.**


	86. Chapter Eighty Five

**Chapter Eighty-Five**

Jarrett looked up as the door opened. Was the PPV over already? It couldn't have been three hours, could it? Then again, it was hard to tell how much time had passed while being in a room alone. It was just then that the cut on his face had begun to get the better of him. The pain was probably worse than anything he had ever felt before, and blood was beginning to trickle down the side of his face. The worse part was that he was slowly beginning to feel tired. But for some reason, Jarrett feared this. he feared that what if he fell unconscious, but then never returned from his sleep. He had read it before, where people who hadn't been treated had lost conscious, fallen into a coma, and then died hours later. it scared him. He didn't want to die. He had too many things he still had to do. Like right his wrongs. A few things began to make sense while being in this room. He began to feel remorse, guilt, and shame for what he had done. He never thought he would, but being at the very end of what he had done to Tess, to her friends, he knew he was wrong. He hated this predicament he was in, and he knew he had put others into this himself. He wished he could go back in time and fix it. He wished he could just erase everything he's done, and instead of hating Tess, embracing the fact that she would drive in the ratings that TNA so desperately needed. But no, he had to be an ass over it all. It finally just now came back to bite him in the ass. But somewhere deep inside, he knew he couldn't dwell on the past. Right now, he just had to think of a way out of this hellhole.

But that goal quickly changed as a body was dumped carelessly into the room. As the door slammed shut, an eyebrow raised from Jarrett. He didn't even have to peer hard at the body to know it was Tess. He had seen enough of her lately that he would be able to recognize her in any shape or form. And he could surely tell that she wasn't fairing well. She was unconscious, that was the obvious fact. But the point that her abdomen wasn't raising and falling the way it normally should have, it slightly scared him. And just by looking at her body, the blood on her clothes, the ripped pieces of cloth, he knew she was badly hurt, worse than earlier. It was as if on instinct that Jarrett drew himself slowly to his feet and walked over to the form crumbled on the ground. He forgot all about his own injuries, forgot about the pain that was shooting through him, and just concentrated on her. As he reached her, it drove more anger through him, knowing that he did this. if it weren't for his plan to kidnap her in the first place, she wouldn't be here, she wouldn't be hurt, and she probably wouldn't be half dead. Yes, that's what he expected she was like at the moment. She was hardly breathing, beaten and battered, and severely hurt. It was worse than he ever imagined. And it made him sick that this all happened because of his stupid little plan to try to drive this girl out of TNA. It was stupid at the start of it all, and it was surely beyond stupidity at this point.

Jarrett though, tried to regain his train of thoughts. He had to focus. But he just couldn't help but think of late last night, when she did almost the same to him. She didn't have to, but she tried to help him out, seeing just how bad his cut was. There was no reason to, as he was probably the biggest jackass in the world. But she still did. It showed that she had a heart, unlike him. And now here he was, about to do the same. Could to explain that Jarrett himself was possibly gaining a heart? He didn't know, and he surely didn't want to think about it. No, instead, he slowly drew the small body into his arms, and brought her over to the bed. He slowly set her down on the blood stained sheets and drew the soft covers over her. He would worry himself over the bruises and cuts on the rest of her body later. At the moment though, he was more concerned about that cut on her forehead. It was the same cut as before, but now it seemed almost worst than his own. Jarrett quickly held down the distaste for Punk he felt in the pit of his stomach, and looked around the room. He sighed as nothing drew to his attention of what he could use to help stop the blood flow. Eventually, he slowly looked down at his torn, bloodied white shirt that he had on. He sighed before grabbing onto the thin fabric and lifting it up over his head. Once bare-chested, he found one of the many rips in the shirt, and widened it, until part of the fabric was fully torn off from the shirt itself. He then folded it a touch before carefully touching the cut on Tess' forehead. He expected a flinch, any sign of movement of pain. But nothing. This only angered him further as he held the cloth firmly into place, trying to stop the bleeding.

He didn't know how long he sat there, on the bed beside her unmoving body. It wasn't until he heard a small chirp, that he realized it was early morning. Jarrett stole a glance over at the window in the room, and sighed as the sky was now a dark blue, instead of black. He must have been there for hours. Or he at least figured. It hardly felt like it though. It only felt like minutes had passed since placing the cloth on the cut. Yet now, he was finished applying pressure, the blood flow already stopping for now. Now though, he was trying to carefully wipe any blood and dirt that he could off her small delicate face. He couldn't do much though, as he soon realized that most of it was dried, and harder to get off without a water substance. He sighed in slight frustration, before throwing the cloth away. The anger was getting the better of him now. He wanted to wring Punk's neck for this. Not only for hurting himself, but doing this to Tess. He didn't exactly like her, but he still never wanted this to happen to anyone. No one deserved this. Even his enemy. And he was determined to make sure that this wrong was fixed. He wanted to make Punk pay, to see that was he's done, was wrong, and lower than low.

"Mmmm…" the small moan arose from Tess.

Jarrett's head snapped to her as he waited apprehensively for her to awaken. It seemed like forever, but she soon finally started to fidget in the bed, moving slowly at first, before beginning to softly thrash around. Not wanting her to cause any more damage, he softly grabbed onto her arms, holding them down. But this only made Tess struggle. He cursed, knowing she probably, in this sleeping state, that he was Punk.

"Tess?" he asked softly, not wanting to startle her.

She only replied with more of a struggle, her legs now trying to hit Jarrett. Jarrett saw this and quickly scooted off the bed, yet keeping his hold on her arms.

"Tess, its Jarrett, not Punk. Calm down." He tried to reassure her.

But again, this only drove her harder.

"I'm not going to hurt you. Calm down before you hurt yourself."

Somehow, as if that was all that was needed to be said, Tess stopped. Just like that. Jarrett was a bit shocked, but sighed and let her arms go all the same. Next, her eyelids slowly fluttered open. A groan arose from her throat as her eyes adjusted and looking around confused. As her eyes fell on him, her face fell, paling considerably.

"No." she cried softly, tears springing to her eyes.

"What?" Jarrett asked, slightly confused.

"I was out…" she mumbled, pushing the sheets off her body, sitting up. She looked around as if trying to think. "No…I was…no…terry…no."

Tess couldn't help but let the tears fall. She was out, she was finally out. She was finally with her friends, with the people she loved. But now she was here, in the place she hated. Those bastards must have kidnapped her again. Why her? Why did everything happen to her? All she wanted was to lead a normal life. But no, ever since she entered TNA, she had obstacles to overcome, and this was the worse overall.

"You were out?" Jarrett looked at her confused. But after thinking for a moment, realization dawned. Her friends must have found her during the PPV in the arena. And then that bastard Punk must have in turn, kidnapped her again. They really were bastards. "Those bastards."

Tess never heard him though as a sob escaped from her lips. She didn't care that she was breaking down in front of her enemy, showing a weakness. She felt only hurt, and nothing else. She wanted her friends. She wanted to be held by Terry. She wanted him to tell her everything would be all right. She wanted AJ to do something stupid to make her laugh. She wanted Jay and AJ to get into a fight, just for no reason. She wanted Raven's sadistic speeches. She wanted Ray and Devon's teasing and jokes. She wanted her friends, and nothing else. Nothing else mattered but her friends.

"Tess?" Jarrett touched her shoulder, feeling tremendously sorry for her, not even realizing that in the past ten minutes, he had been calling her by her first name, and not by the usual 'McMahon.'

Tess though, somehow didn't flinch back at the touch. In truth, she couldn't feel it. She was numb, all over. Except her heart, which felt like it was breaking even further.

"Shh." He, not exactly thinking, brought her form into his arms. "Its okay.

He truthfully didn't know what eh was doing. It was as if someone had taken control of his body, because he surely had no clue he was doing this. Was he actually comforting his enemy? It seemed that way as he wrapped his arm around her comfortingly, while rubbing her back soothingly. Tess meanwhile, just cried. She hardly acknowledged the fact of who was holding her. She didn't care. She just wanted to feel someone, anyone. To know that someone was there. And right now, if either of them liked it or not, it was Jarrett.

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**A/N: its not the longest, but theres alot there i suppose. so she broke down, which was to be expected...but what about Jarrett comforting her? now that im sure was a bit of a shocker eh?**


	87. Chapter Eighty Six

**Chapter Eighty-Six**

"Why are you being nice?" Tess asked softly, looking over from the bed to the window, in which Jarrett was faced towards.

He never looked over. It had only been about an hour since her breakdown. Neither had really spoken. In fact, no words were said at all. He just held her until she calmed down, and actually fell asleep. That's how he found himself by the window. He had nothing better to do, so he had begun to watch the sun rise. It must have only been minutes to him that she had woken up previously.

"Why are you being nice?" she repeated.

Again no reply. In truth, he didn't know. But he couldn't say that. How weak would that be? By saying that you did something for no reason at all. Tess though, began to grow impatient. So she slowly drew her legs over the edge of the bed and stood. After a moment of uncertainty, she slowly walked towards the large horizontal window. She starred at him for a moment before looking at what he had been starring at. Tears sprung to her eyes as she saw the sun beginning to rise, the orange and pinks peeking through the darker blue. Her memory flashed to her birthday, where she and Chris stayed out on his balcony, watching the sunrise. Or more he did, as she fell asleep. Just remembering that, a tear fell down her cheek. But before she could wipe it away, someone else did. Tess' head snapped up as Jarrett's hand fell back to his side. His face was turned, so she couldn't read his expression at all. She was shocked. She had a small feeling that this experience may have been changing the once asshole of a man, but she never thought it was changing him this much. It was a lot to take in.

"Don't start crying again. I don't need a crying girl on my hands." He replied gruffly.

Tess raised an eyebrow and couldn't help but chuckle slightly. Jarrett glanced over at her, deciding she had gone insane.

"What the hell is so funny?" he asked.

"You sound like Terry." She replied softly, looking down.

Jarrett scrunched up his face in disgust as small smile fell over her.

"That ruined my day." He shuddered.

"You have to admit, it's better done by me than Punk." She smiled slightly at him.

"That's a happy thought." He rolled his eyes.

"Well I thought so." She shrugged, still smiling.

Jarrett looked over at her before looking back at the window. He couldn't help himself as his lips twitched into a smile. Seeing hers was just to damn catchy not to.

"Is that a smile I see? Wow, who knew you could be human." She teased him.

"Fuck off." He grumbled

"Well someone's in a bad mood." She rolled her eyes.

"And you're in too good of a mood." He shot back. "I thought you were depressed."

Tess shut her mouth, a frown falling over her. She just turned back towards the bed and began towards it. Before she could get very far, a hand touched her arm.

"Look, I'm sorry, I'm just in a bad mood like you said." Jarrett sighed.

Tess remained quiet. Jarrett groaned, wishing he hadn't said anything at all. He swiftly turned her around and made her look at him.

"What's wrong?" he asked, sensing that something was indeed wrong with her.

"Nothing." She shook her head.

"I'm not stupid McMahon." He raised an eyebrow.

"Its nothing." She shrugged.

"Well it must be something." He sighed. "I know I'm not your most favorite person in the world, but you can still talk to me. I mean we're in the same boat. So I'm sure I know something about what your feeling."

Tess looked to the side, contemplating whether or not she should talk. After a moment, she finally sighed heavily and said the words she had yet to say throughout the whole experience.

"I'm scared."

"What?" he was shocked.

"I'm scared." She mumbled, now looking down.

Although most assumed Jarrett didn't have a heart, he indeed did now, as he felt it breaking just hearing those words coming from her.

"Me too." He admitted.

"Really?" she looked up surprised. "You don't really seem like the kind of person who would be saying that right now."

"Yes well, after being betrayed, shoved into a locked room, and being kicked the hell out of, I made a few changes to myself." He stated.

"I noticed. You actually don't seem like a cold hearted bastard." She looked at him in the eye.

"I'll take that as a compliment." He rolled his eyes.

"Good cuz it was meant to be." She blushed slightly before feeling a touch of pain in her head. "Ow."

"What?" Jarrett asked cautiously.

"Head's pounding." She frowned before her face contorted in pain.

"Why don't you go lay down, may take some of the stress off it." he suggested.

"Yeah maybe…" Tess nodded before she heard the all too familiar voice of Punk just outside of the door.

"_Is she in there? Good."_

Tess paled in horror as she began to shake. Jarrett saw this and immediately pushed her at the wall, putting himself in front of her as the door flew open to reveal Punk's smirking form.

"Aw, cute, your still protective." Punk smirked before moving the newly won X Division belt higher up on his shoulder.

Tess looked at the belt with wide eyes. She still couldn't believe Petey had lost to him. She was never a Petey Williams Fan, but he was surely better than Punk by far.

"Yep that's right Tess, you're looking at your new champ." Punk smirked as he caught her starring at the belt. "Poor Petey just couldn't handle my more aggressive ways."

"Just because you have one title, doesn't mean you own TNA Punk." Jarrett shot at him.

"No it doesn't." Punk walked towards them. "But it does mean I'm better than you, as you don't seem to be having much of anything lately."

Jarrett clenched his fists together, trying to control his anger.

"Angry there Jarrett? What are you going to do? Hit me?" Punk snorted.

Without thinking of what his actions would bring, Jarrett did just that. With a clenched first, he swung out and connected swiftly with Punks right eye. Tess' eyes widened as Jarrett completely snapped and tackled Punk to the ground.

"Jarrett..." Tess took a step forward as Jarrett threw punches and elbows at the man below him. "Stop."

He ignored her though and continued his assault on the man who caused both of them pain. He wanted revenge. And although he would get it stronger outside of this room, he could at least start it now. Tess though, as much as she wanted Punk to feel pain, knew it wasn't the time. Jarrett didn't have enough energy to keep this up. He was slowly wearing himself out just by throwing elbows at the man. And then there was the fact that the door handle was rattling, a sure sign someone was coming in to see what was going on. She sighed before walking closer and touching Jarrett's bare back.

"Someone's coming." She warned him.

"Fuck that." He growled.

Swallowing his stubbornness down, she grabbed onto his arm, stopping a punch. He glared up at her, pulling his arm out of her reach.

"Fine, your funeral." She shrugged, walking towards the bed in frustration.

She just sat on the bed and watched as The Embassy shot into the room and immediately pulled Jarrett off Punk. She felt slightly sorry for him as he was thrown into the wall and kicked repeatedly. But then again, it was his own fault, as he never listened to her.

"I swear to god Jarrett." Punk slowly got to his feet with the help of Prince Nana. "Try that again, and I'll make sure you don't make it out of this room."

And with that, the group left, leaving Tess shaking her head at Jarrett, who was trying to get into a sitting position.

"Told you so." She sighed, standing up and making her way over to him.

"Shut up." He growled angrily.

"Just stating a fact. You should have listened to me." She knelt down beside him.

He glared at her but remained silent.

She smirked slightly before reaching out a hand and standing. "Come on, you look like you need the bed more than me now."

"I don't." he mumbled stubbornly, yet took the hand and stood anyways.

Tess rolled her eyes as she helped the man over to the bed, which was harder than most would think. As she was already hurt and weak, helping a much bigger Jarrett walk wasn't as easy as she was thinking.

"I can do it on my own." He muttered.

Tess stopped and raised an eyebrow. He really was acting stubborn. But as Tess herself wasn't in the best of moods, she wasn't willing to deal with his attitude. So she simply let him go and walked towards the window, arms crossing along the way. Jarrett meanwhile mumbled a few curses while trying to continue to the bed. Unfortunately, and the slight joy of Tess, he hardly went two feet before pain shot through him sending him to bending down, leaning a knee on the floor.

"Fucking hell." He growled.

Tess rolled her eyes as she turned around and starred at him.

"Your should really stop being so difficult." She shook her head before walking over to him. "Just let me help you. Call it, us being even now."

Jarrett looked up at her before looking back down and nodding. A small smile fell on her face as she helped him back into a standing position. The two once again tried the walk towards the bed, and thankfully made it this time.

"Ugh, I'll be happy when all of this is done and over." Jarrett sighed as he sat down in the middle of the bed.

"Won't we all." She agreed softly, sitting on the bed as well. "Are you okay?"

"Peachy." He rolled his eyes.

"Don't need to be sarcastic you know." She looked at him.

He just glared back.

"You need to learn how to grow up." Tess grumbled before standing and walking back over to the window.

"I'll think about that as soon as I'm out of this hell hold and not around you for hours on end." He retorted.

"The feelings mutual." She said from the window.

Jarrett rolled his eyes. "Whose being mature now?"

"Certainly not you." She answered.

"Well your not any better."

"Yes well when your acting like a little kid its hard not to act immature." She rolled her eyes.

"That doesn't make sense McMahon."

"Not like I care." Tess shrugged.

"Of all people, why am I stuck in here with you?" Jarrett sighed in frustration.

"Well why don't you ask yourself that." Tess turned around, facing him. "You're the one who came up with this brilliant scheme."

Jarrett opened his mouth to retort, but no words came out.

"Close your mouth before you catch flies." She shot at him.

He did so, and just looked down. He was at a lost for words, not really knowing what to say. She was right. This was his scheme, kidnapping her. It had just backfired a bit to well.

"Your head's bleeding again." Tess sighed, interrupting the silence with a sigh.

He looked up at her confused before touching his forehead lightly. He winced as pain ran through his head.

"I swear we're going to be dead by the end of this." she slowly walked over and sat on the bed, the previous argument completely forgotten.

"No we wont. He's doing this to drive you out of TNA. He wont result in killing you. Me maybe, but not you." Jarrett assured her before frowning.

"You don't know that for sure." She pointed out before looking down at her lap, sighing. "Maybe I should just leave TNA like everyone wants me to."

"What?" Jarrett looked at her in surprise.

"Well this is just going to continue happening." She waved at the room. "Ever since I've come into TNA, all I've gotten is hospital trip after hospital trip. And now being kidnapped. I'm tired of it. And worse, my best friends are getting the crap beaten out of them just because of me. I mean you guys put someone who I consider to be my brother, into a coma."

"Jericho is in a coma?" Jarrett paled considerably.

"You didn't know?" she looked at him.

"No. And that was Punk. It was his idea. He just told me that we should do it. I said so whatever. I never wanted to put him in a coma though." Jarrett clenched his fists, the anger in him becoming more prominent.

"There's always a risk in jumping someone. That's just one of them." She replied coldly.

"Sorry." He looked down, the anger he was feeling, now towards himself.

"What?" she looked at him in shock.

"I said I was sorry."

She was bout to say something when she heard someone coming to the door…

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**A/N: much thanks to my beta reader who went through this and helped...god knows I never actually pay attention to how I'm typing a word lol.**

**hm...interesting chapter...kind of went up and down...nice jarrett...mean jarrett...nice jarrett...angry jarrett...mean jarrett...nice jarrett...rather interesting. but what about that last part...is Jarrett really sorry, and for how much, just about Jarrett, or everything?**

**And whose coming to the door? any guesses? could it be her friends, finally making the save? or that damn Punk again?**

**until next time**


	88. Chapter Eighty Seven

Chapter Eighty Seven

"What?" Jarrett asked as Tess looked towards the door.

"I hear something." She stated.

Jarrett raised an eyebrow before listening closely. He did indeed hear whispers coming from the other side.

"Why cant they just leave us alone for an hour." She grumbled as the door jiggled.

Before Jarrett could answer though, Punk walked through the door with a smirk Steve Corino.

"Grab her and take her to the basement." Punk ordered.

Steve nodded; smirk growing wide, as he began walking towards the two on the bed. Tess immediately shot up off the bed and away from Corino, with Jarrett putting himself in front of her.

"Still cannot understand how you was to protect her so much." Punk shook his head.

"Fuck off or I'm going to give you another black eye." Jarrett threatened.

"You shouldn't be threatening me Jarrett. At the moment, I'm the one in charge. So unless you want something to go horribly wrong, I'd shut the hell up. Now get out of the way or I'll make sure you don't make it out of here alive."

Jarrett just glared at Punk, yet he could feel himself start thinking about what he had just said. Was it worth his life to try to protect his enemy? Was he willing to go through hell for her? Though when he felt one of her hands latch onto his arms, clutching it out of fear, he knew the answer. He didn't know why, but he felt the need to protect her, to keep her safe. Maybe this was just the guilt talking, but he knew he couldn't let them hurt her. So Jarrett just stood his ground, not letting Corino pass.

"I see you've made your choice. But unfortunately, I've decided to change your fate. Instead, she'll get it." Punk motioned at the door before Slash and Sinn entered the room.

Jarrett paled as the two walked over beside Corino. Tess' hand dug further into his arm as she cowered behind him, not a usual thing for a McMahon to do.

"Do your thing boys." Punk smirked and stood back.

Jarrett braced himself as Slash and Sinn came at him. They pulled him away from Tess and threw him into the wall, throwing devastating shots at his head. Jarrett tried to block them, but the continued to come from both sides, and eventually, he slid down the wall in agony. But the hits continued to come, now to the rest of his pained body.

"Let me go!" Tess shouted, struggling as Corino held her up against the wall.

"Leave her…alone." Jarrett said through his clenched teeth.

Corino just smirked as he came closer to her face. He stopped inches away and looked into her blue eyes.

"Night McMahon." He winked before he wheeled back a hand and connected his fist, clad with brass knucks, into the side of her head.

Jarrett watched in horror as she slid down the wall before being picked up by Corino. She was out cold by the looks of it.

"We'll be back in a bit." Punk smirked at Jarrett before motioning for everyone to follow him.

And in seconds, the room was empty except for a downed Jarrett.

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"How are you feeling?" Chris looked at Raven as he entered the locker room and dropped his bag.

"Fine." He replied gruffly.

Chris could tell something was wrong, but opted to just let the topic change. "Everyone ready for tonight."

"No." AJ replied.

"Get ready kid." Chris gave him an encouraging smile. "You're in a match against Rave, that kid has skills so I've heard."

"Yeah I know." AJ's face grew dark. "I took him under my wing in Ring Of Honor. He stole my finisher afterwards."

Chris raised an eyebrow, not expecting to hear that. "Well use whatever you want, but use your anger against him."

"Oh I will." AJ stood. "I'm going to go call Scott, see how Petey is."

"Alright, stay close though." Chris advised.

"What are you my father?" AJ raised an eyebrow.

"No one else is willing to be the sensible one around here." He shrugged.

"Don't worry about him AJ, he's always been like this." Ray rolled his eyes. "But stay close to the locker room. You never know."

AJ nodded before taking out his phone and leaving the room.

"So he's the one that loves Tess than?" Chris asked once the door had been closed.

"Yeah, who told you?" Devon asked.

"Jay." Chris answered. "He was complaining about it awhile ago. Just remembered it now. He looks like he really cares."

"He does. Was dead set against her and Chris Daniels going out near the end there." Ray nodded. "Too bad those two couldn't get back together, they were good."

"Who Daniels and her?" Jeff asked, coming out of the bathroom.

"Yeah." Devon nodded.

"Yeah. Too bad Punk has crap on him." Jeff sighed. "Tess was really in love with him. It would have been nice to see those two work out the problems with the fake cheating stuff, and get back together."

"They did look happy together." Chris nodded.

"They were." Ray nodded. "He was good for her, and the other way around."

"I still remember the days back when she first got here. Those two bickered more than anyone I know." Devon laughed, remembering the past.

"I thought they were going to kill each other." Jeff mused

"But then he slowly gained a heart." Ray shook his head with a smile. "Who would have thought."

"Remember that day we walked into the gym, and there they were, kissing." Devon grinned.

"I still remember how embarrassed they looked." Ray nodded.

"And then they started going out?" Chris asked, sitting on a bench.

"Yeah." Jay nodded walking into the room. "Scared the hell out of us. She was supposed to be training with Daniels until five, but it was a lot later when we finally got a hold of her…apparently she had spent the day with him."

"And then there's the times where she would go off with him and just have…"

"Okay, no more. I don't need to know that about her." Chris stopped them with a smile.

"Try having to go through this all the time." Terry walked in behind Jay. "It was more than awkward."

"I bet. See, that's why I waited until now to come…so I wouldn't have to know about her um…"

"Sex life?" Jeff helped Chris with a smirk.

"Yes, thank you." Chris rolled his eyes.

"No problem." Jeff chuckled.

"What's so funny?" Alex asked as he and Eric stood by the door.

"Chris is embarrassed by the fact that Tess has a sex life." Ray announced.

"Shut up." Chris slapped him over the head.

"Hey its true." He shrugged.

"Interesting." Alex raised an eyebrow. "Do any of you know where AJ is?"

"He should be just outside there should he?" Chris said.

Alex shook his head. "He's not out here."

"Great." Chris sighed.

"That boy needs to learn how to listen." Ray rolled his eyes. "Don't worry about it, we can go look for him."

Devon nodded. "I need to get out of the locker room anyways."

"Alright thanks." Alex nodded at them.

"No problem." Ray smiled as they slipped past them and out into the hallway.

"Which way do you think?" Devon looked both ways.

"Rock, paper, scissors?" Ray shrugged.

Devon nodded and they played the childish game. As usual, Devon won, with paper both times.

"Don't know how you can win that." Ray grumbled as they went down the hallway Devon pointed to.

"I have a little sister. I learned how to master the game a long time ago." Devon chuckled.

"True." Ray nodded before stopping as they turned another corner. "Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Devon asked, stopping as well before listening.

"That."

Devon stretched his hearing until he caught some light talking as well as moaning.

"Well…maybe someone's going at it?" Devon suggested.

Ray rolled his eyes. "You've been around the kids way to much. But it sounds like two males."

Devon nodded as they slowly walked towards the voices. They soon stopped as the recognized one.

"Isn't that AJ?"

"Yeah." Ray nodded. "Come on lets go see."

Devon nodded and they raced towards the noise until they turned a last corner and saw AJ kneeling beside a fallen body. Ray peered around AJ's kneeling form and was shocked to see Daniels lying there, looking like he just went through hell.

"AJ." Ray voiced, making the younger man jump.

"Uh, hi." AJ glanced over.

"Is he okay?" Devon asked as he and Ray walked over slowly.

"I'm fine." Daniels grumbled.

"He's not." AJ sighed. "I know I should have stayed closer to the room, but I heard yelling and crap, so I came to see what was going on, and I found him here."

"We should take him to the trainers to get check out." Ray nodded.

"You don't have to talk like I'm not here." Daniels said gruffly, putting his hand to his head, where blood was pouring freely.

Ray rolled his eyes. "Alright then, lets get you to the trainers."

"Ugh no. I'm good." He said stubbornly.

"Oh come on Daniels, lets just go." AJ grabbed his arm slightly, and with the help of both Ray and Devon, slowly got Daniels to his feet.

"So what happened?" Devon asked as they slowly helped Daniels towards the trainer's room.

"Yeah, that's what I want to know." AJ nodded.

"Put two and two together." Daniels grumbled as they stopped suddenly. "Don't just stop."

"Sorry." AJ rolled his eyes. "But we're here. I'm pretty sure you don't want to slam into a door.

Daniels lifted his head and glared at AJ. AJ just shrugged and smirked back while Devon and Ray rolled their eyes and helped Daniels into the room. They slowly helped him up onto a bed before grabbing the attention of the main trainer. The trainer quickly came over and began to inspect the head of Daniels.

"So? What happened?" Ray pestered.

Daniels sighed and shoved the trainer away. "I wouldn't do something Punk wanted me to do, and he set his goons on me. Simple as that."

"What wouldn't you do?" Devon asked.

Daniels looked down, as he grew silent.

"Well?"

"He wanted me to hurt Tess." He mumbled.

"What?" AJ gaped.

"He wanted me to hurt Tess. I could never do that. So I refused. And I refused, and I refused. So he eventually had his goons do this." he motioned towards his head, though he averted their eyes.

"Wow." AJ said, completely shocked.

"You sound surprised." Daniels looked up, a hard look on his face. "Why the hell should you be? Do you really think I would be able to hurt the woman I loved? Who I've always loved."

AJ just looked at him, not knowing what to say.

"You may want to believe that I wasn't good for her, or that I never loved her. But I always did. I didn't cheat on her, I never would have. The only reason why we couldn't work our problems out was because of Punk." Daniels glared at him, anger apparent in his voice.

AJ opened his mouth to say something, but was quickly cut off by Daniels, who was now standing despite the blood loss.

"Mark my word Styles. I am going to get her back. I love her, I always have and I always will, so deal with it. As soon as this is all over, and she's back, I'm going to make sure we work this all out. So don't go getting any ideas that you can just go in there and snag her up as yours. I'm not about to let you take away the woman I love. Its bad enough Punk did that." Daniels warned in a threatening voice.

"You should just calm down Daniels. Stop assuming stuff." AJ finally found his words.

"Right back at you." Daniels shrugged before looking at Ray and Devon. "Meet me after the show, with everyone else. I know where she is."

Ray and Devon nodded numbly as Daniels just shot AJ one last glare before storming out of the room, forgetting all about his injuries.

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**A/N: WHOA! i finally updated this...and damn...its a crazy one...first Punk takes her out of the room...but where to now? and what about Jarrett? that man is slowly showing a heart...could he actually be a good person if given the chance? **

**and now whats going to happen with Daniels? he's determined to get Tess back...but will it happen? and now that they know for sure where she is, will they be able to get to her?**

**all i gotta say is, stay tuned and you'll find out :) **


	89. Chapter Eighty Eight

Chapter Eighty Eight:

"Is all of this really necessary?" a mysterious voice asked from the bathroom door way.

Punk looked up and over at the man as he washed the blood off his hands. "Yes. Your not actually growing a conscious now are you? I don't need two bastards changing now."

"I'm not. I'm just saying. Is torturing like this really necessary in getting her out of TNA?"

Punk dried his now washed hands and watched in pride at how stained the sink was from the blood.

"Everything else has been tried. This is the only thing left." Punk shrugged as he threw the towel down onto the counter and walked past the mystery man.

The man raised an eyebrow as he starred at the bloody sink in disgust.

"You coming or what?" Punk stopped and looked at the back of the man.

The man sighed before turning and nodding.

"Good. Come on, we should bring Tess back up to the room. I can't wait to see Jarrett's reaction." Punk clapped his hands together gleefully.

"Yeah." The man muttered as he watched Punk turn and walk down the stairs towards the basement.

The man sighed and ran a hand through his blonde hair before slowly following.

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"So then where is she?" Terry asked as soon as everyone was crowded around a corner in the parking lot.

"Punk's house." Chris leaned against the wall, still feeling the affects of earlier that night.

"Where?"

"Across town." Chris shrugged.

"Well give us an address." Terry insisted.

"We can't just barge in there." Chris shook his head.

"Why not?" Adam asked. "Because right now, the idea of barging in looks pretty good."

"Because he has more people than we think he does. We don't have the people. We have to get to her when they wont expect anything to happen."

"And when will that be?" AJ folded his arms and glared at him.

"At the house show." Chris stated.

"What?"

"At the House Show. It's up in Detroit right? Well Punk and his boys are scheduled for the show next week. When they go up, they wont leave them here, so they'll be forced to go too. We somehow get to her when they're up there. They'll probably be in a hotel, so it'll be easy." Chris explained.

"And you're sure we should wait until then?" Terry asked, a bit unsure about this.

"I want her back just as much as you do. But I truly believe that this will be the best time."

"You're probably leading us into a trap." AJ muttered.

Petey rolled his eyes and punched his friend in the arm. AJ glared at him as he rubbed his arm quickly. Chris meanwhile, was beginning to grow angry with AJ, and began to look like he was going to attack him. But Benoit quickly interfered, stepping between the two.

"Cool it AJ. Give the guy a bit of trust will you? Or would you rather not try to get Tess back?" Benoit raised an eyebrow.

AJ shook his head and bowed his head.

"I didn't think so. So just cool off. Learn to work together. We don't need our group to break apart. We need everyone we can get." Chris sighed, before looking down at his watch. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a phone call to make. Terry, you want to come along?"

Terry raised an eyebrow, looking between everyone in the group before shrugging and nodding. The group exchanged confused looks as the two eldest walked off towards Terry's car only a few meters away.

"So…" Adam shuffled his feet, feeling the tension in the air. "How about those Blue Jays."

Jay rolled his eyes. "Only you would bring up Canada's losing Baseball team at a time like this.

Adam cracked a small smile with a shrug. "What? No one else was going to say something. So I decided to break the ice."

"You could have at least done it without killing your own country." Ray rolled his eyes. "No offence, but your teams suck."

"So do a lot of your teams." Adam shot back.

"True. But we have more." Jeff smirked.

"Stupid America." Adam frowned.

"You know you do live here to right?" Alex mentioned.

"Yeah yeah, I know. Shh."

Jay rolled his eyes and smacked Adam across the head. "Grow up Adam."

"I blame…"

"What, the government?" Jay raised an eyebrow.

"Well…" Adam thought for a moment. "Yes. Its all their fault I tell ya!"

"Uh huh. Your weird dude."

"Whatever C, right back at ya." Adam shrugged.

"Whatever E, you reek anyways."

"Reek of awesomeness." Adam smirked.

"Oh my god." Jay groaned.

"Hey, you started it." he held up his hands in defense.

"You…never mind, you'll just use it against me." Jay chuckled.

"Your probably right buddy." Adam patted him on the shoulder. "I'm always like that."

"Unfortunately." Jay smirked.

"Dude, not cool! You know you love me!" Adam insisted.

"No not really." Jay shook his head.

Adam held his hand over his heart. "That hurts dude, it hurts deep."

"You mean you have a heart?" Jay gaped. "It's a miracle."

"Haha." Adam glared at him. "At least…at least…at least I don't have short hair like a noob!"

"Dude! Not cool. I'm not a noob!" Jay glared at him.

"Oh, you are." Adam smirked before feeling a familiar vibration in his pocket. "Your lucky my phone is ringing. Your saved from me picking on you for now."

"More like you're lucky that I wont have to give you a noogie." Jay muttered as Adam excused himself from the group and walked a bit away.

"I heard that!" Adam shouted back.

Jay rolled his eyes.

"You two are weird." Petey shook his head, laughing slightly.

"Yeah…but we're used to it." Jeff nodded.

"Whatever Rainbow head. Your weird too." Jay stuck his tongue out at him.

"Yeah, but I don't deny it." Jeff smirked.

"Hey, I never denied it either." Jay defended.

"But you never not denied it either." Jeff pointed out.

"Wait what?" Jay raised an eyebrow before he broke out in laughter.

Jeff stood there with a blank look on his face before finally rolling his eyes and laughing all the same. Meanwhile, the rest of the group just looked on amused at the two. Though the laughter had caught on, and soon, the whole group was laughing it up.

"What's so funny?" Adam asked, walking back over with a huge grin on his face.

"Not really sure." AJ shrugged.

"Okay then." Adam shrugged. "Then I guess no one wants to hear the news that I have."

That immediately shut everyone up.

"What is it? Tell tell!" Jay prompted.

"Calm down C." Adam rolled his eyes.

"Shut up E. come on, tell us already." Jay bounced up and down on the balls of his feet.

Adam opened his mouth to say his news, but then closed it again.

"Oh come on. You're killing us. Tell!" Jeff pleaded.

Adam rolled his eyes before his grin returned. "Well, I just got a call from John, who's up in Toronto with Shane, Matt, and Randy."

"And…"Jay nodded.

"Well. He was calling about Chris." He dragged the suspense on.

"Hurry up and get to the point before we kick your ass." Ray threatened light heartedly.

Adam threw up his hands in defense. "Hey, I was just building the suspense. Take all the fun out of it why don't ya."

"We will. Now tell." Devon nodded.

"Fine fine." Adam muttered. "Guess who just woke up?"

"Chris!" Jay's eyes widened.

Adam grinned and nodded quickly. "He just woke up about ten minutes ago. Apparently Matt and Shane were in the room, lazing around like they usually do, when Chris just woke up and insulted them."

"Typical Chris." Jeff chuckled.

Adam nodded. "Yeah. So the doctors haven't told them anything. But he's awake. So there's a lot of sign that he'll be good."

"I see you've heard." Benoit and Terry walked back over.

"Yeah. Wait, you know too?" Ray asked.

"Yeah. Shawn just called me like two minutes ago. Told me of the good news. At least one good thing is happening to us." Benoit nodded.

"God knows we deserve it." Terry sighed.

"Speaking of which." Benoit looked between the group. "We have somewhere to be."

"Whoa what?" Jay raised an eyebrow. "Where?"

"Your apartment. We're being met there by someone." Terry stated.

"Who?" Jeff asked.

"Someone you'll be pleasantly surprised to see." Benoit and terry shared a smirk.

"I wish people would quit with the suspense." Devon exclaimed.

The group burst out laughing before all heading towards their respectful cars.

"Just make sure you're all there in half an hour." Terry called to them all.

They all nodded as car doors slammed and engines started. That is, except for two people.

"Chris." Scott stopped the liming man.

Chris turned and raised an eyebrow at his former enemy.

"How would you feel about recreating Triple X?"

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**A/N: so much to say. first off...I FINALLY UPDATED!!! YAY!!!! ahem, anyways, back to the story.**

**so, 1) theres a mystery man on Punk's side who isn't all for Punk's cherades...i wonder who it could be?**

**2) am i the only one who misses when Edge and Christian were E & C...sigh...anyways, had to put in a classic moment between Jay and Adam, it had to be cone.**

**3) oooo so its set then, they're gonna try to get tess back at the house show.**

**4) whose this new mystery person that Chris and Terry were talking about?**

**5) JERKY WOKE UP!!! yay!**

**and**

**6) the recreation of XXX? well Low Ki is expected to make a return. so i guess u never know.**

**anyways. alot of stuff to think about. and alot of more stuff for me to write about. oh well. until next time.**


	90. Chapter Eighty Nine

**Chapter Eighty-Nine:**

-----

_Mystery Man POV_

-----

I slowly walked down the stairs towards the darkened basement, following Punk's lead. I had yet to be down here, to witness the charades going on. But what I had heard from the living room, gave me the rough idea of what was happening. And it sounded disgusting. I was never a nice one, one that gave a damn of what I was doing. But what Punk was currently doing, even I knew it was wrong. Yet I had signed in on this, knowing what I was getting into. I just wish it didn't have to be run by a maniac.

"Oh, on second thought, could you take her up? I forgot I had to pick up Alexis from the airport." Punk stopped halfway down the stairs, turning to look up at me.

I shrugged, not really having any other choice but to say yes.

"Just dump her in the room. I'm sure Jarrett will try to help her." Punk smirked before sliding past me up the stairs. "Have fun."

"Oh yeah, loads." I muttered in a low voice and rolled my eyes.

I waited until I heard the front door close before slowly making the remainder of the way down the stairs, now entering the dark basement. I sighed as my hand scanned the wall for a light switch. I soon found one on the lumpy surface of the wall, and flicked the notch up. Light omitted into the room, showing every brick on the wall, showing all the dirt stains and rat pellets on the concrete floor. Though what was worse was that the light showed the figure lying motionless on the cold ground, in the middle of the room. I had seen a lot of bad things in my life. Hell, I created a lot of those bad images. But this, this was by far the worst. I had never seen anything more horrific than seen a young woman, lying motionless in a pool of her own blood, completely defenseless and scared. It made me sick.

I held back my anger though, as I had a deed I had to complete. I slowly walked over to Tess, bending down beside her body. I paused myself there, trying to figure out if she were awake or not. Though after peering at her closed eyes, and her breathing pattern, I decided she had fallen unconscious. I slowly drew my arms under her small form and lifted her up in my arms, standing up in the process. As I stood, I noticed just how small and light Tess was. I shook my head as the anger returned, before turning and heading back towards the stairs. As I made up them, I felt her stirring a bit, yet she never woke up. I couldn't help but feel slightly guilty for not being able to stop Punk before. But I knew I couldn't. I had a job to do. And I had to do it. my job was riding on this. as well as Tess' life. If I could at least help the slightest, maybe that would get her and Jarrett out of here that much quicker.

As I made my way to the main floor in the house, I noticed that there was no one around. Nana and Rave must have left with Punk to the airport. Meaning he was alone with the two captives. A slow smirk fell on my face as I walked quicker towards the door that he knew too well. Once there, he looked down at the knob before sighing. It didn't help that he was holding Tess. I maneuvered my hand around from under her legs, and finally found that my large hand was grasping the silver and gold knob. I turned it quickly and walked into the dimly lit room.

Immediately as I stepped into the room, I was bombarded by a shocked face. Jeff Jarrett. I was never a fan. Yet seeing him leaning against the wall, bruises lining his body, cuts on his face, dried blood surrounding them, I actually felt some of that hatred slip away.

"Close your mouth Jarrett." I stated in a gruff tone as I walked towards the bed and lightly laid Tess on it.

"Where's Punk?" he asked.

"Out." I shrugged before glancing down at her. "She's going to need those cuts cleaned."

"Yeah, because that can be done when your locked in a room." Jarrett glared.

I rolled my eyes as I started towards the door. "I'll be back."

Before he could reply though, I simple left the room. I paused for a moment outside the room, remembering my bearings, before turning left into the bathroom. I searched through the cabinets, searching for anything that could possibly help. Seeing nothing, I left the room, and headed towards the stairs heading upstairs, hoping there would be anything up there.

-----

_REG POV_

-----

Jarrett slowly walked over to the bed, still surprised at seeing who had brought her into the room. Yet he was more shocked at glancing over her. She looked ten times more horrible than she had before they took her. He felt his heart ache as he slowly sat beside her body on the bed.

He grabbed her hand gently and gave it a slight squeeze. "What have they done to you Tess?"

He brushed her hair out of her face and sighed. The other man that had brought Tess back returned, carrying TCP, a bowl of clean water and a clean cloth. He passed them to Jarrett and then stood back to watch. Jarrett held the cloth in his hand, dipping it into the water, before lightly running it over her forehead, where one of her main cuts were. After seeing no movement, not even a flinch, Jarrett continued. He sighed in contempt as he was finally able to wipe away the dried blood covering her pale face. Seeing the dirt and blood gone, he could see just how sickly pale she actually was. He bent over to make sure she was still breathing, her chest going up and down to slowly for his liking. Just as he was about to sit down again, her eyes fluttered open and she awoke. Her reaction was something he wasn't expecting.

"Stay away from me." she whimpered before scrambling to the other side of the room

Jarrett stood up to follow her but stopped at the scared look on her face. "Oh god, what has that bastard done to you?"

His heart broke in two as she looked over at him battered, bruised and mentally raped.

-----

_Mystery Man's POV_

-----

I almost choked as I saw the scene unfold in front of me. From knowing her while she was still only a teenager, I knew she was never like this. She was always a self-dependent girl, who was strong beyond belief. But now, she looked like a scared little girl. I almost couldn't believe this was still the same woman he shared jokes with, shared pranks against friends with. She was completely changed now. All because of Punk.

"Can you walk?" I asked, the sound of my voice startling Jarrett.

"What?" he asked, though his eyes never leaving the trembling girl.

"Can you walk?" I repeated myself.

"Yeah." He shrugged.

"Good. Hopefully she still remembers me." I stepped further into the room, digging into my front pocket. Finally finding what I was looking for, I threw a set of keys at Jarrett, before slowing walking towards Tess. "I'll get her. The key with the black is for my car."

Once I had made my way over to her, I slowly bent down, trying to not startle her. Her head shot up, a scared look plastered on her pale face.

"Hi Tess. Remember me?" I asked softly, trying not to scare her.

She just starred at me. I wasn't sure if she was trying to remember me, or trying to see if I was going to hurt her or not. Though by the look currently obtaining her eyes, I could tell it was the latter.

"I'm not going to hurt you." I assured her before looking over my shoulder at Jarrett, who was just standing there, watching her. "He won't either. I promise you. I need you to trust me okay? I'm going to get you out of here. But I need you to trust me enough to let me help you okay?"

She just starred, not saying a word. I sighed. This was much harder than I originally thought.

"Look Tess, I'm not going to hurt you okay? But I need to pick you up so we can go to my car all right? And then we can go home. We can go see Terry and Chris, and everyone else all right? And then later you can go see your Dad and Shane. Jerky probably wants to see you too."

At the mention of one of her best friends, she blinked. It wasn't much, but I knew she was now listening closely.

"He woke up. He's okay. Last I heard he's more worried about you than he is about his own health. If you let me help you, you can go see him all right? Is that okay?" I asked cautiously.

I waited a moment, waiting for her to break the silence. But to no avail. I sighed and went to try to coax her into saying yes, but before I could, she slowly nodded at me. I raised an eyebrow as the nod sunk in, before sending her a warm smile.

"I'm just going to pick you up alright?" I asked, not wanting to scare her by just suddenly touching her.

She bit her lip, as if contemplating what I just said. But after a quick moment, she nodded again, though still not talking at all. I nodded in return as I slowly inched my way to her, again, not wanting to frighten her with sudden movements. Soon though, She was curled up in my arms, with myself rising to my feet.

"Ready to go?" I asked, looking over at the still Jarrett.

He looked at me before down at the keys. His eyes fell on the door, as if he was unsure of it all. As if it were all too good to be true.

"It isn't a trick. Go." I nodded at the door, encouraging him to lead the way.

He shifted his weight back and forth as he tried to decide whether or not he could trust me. But as his eyes flickered over the semi calm Tess, he sighed, nodding, as if he now believed me by the way I had been able to calm her down.

-----

_REG POV_

-----

Jarrett slowly took a step towards the door. He was still a touch unsure of this all. Yet a small part of his conscious told him to trust the other man. He had calmed down Tess a bit. Though what confused him was why he cared so much. Why did he care so much that she was so hurt? Why did he all of a sudden, wish to be the one to comfort her? It was such a mystery to him. He was unable to completely understand the change in him, not able to explain why he suddenly felt so much emotion towards his former enemy.

"Not to rush you or anything, but we don't have much time." The other man stated.

Jarrett glanced at him for a moment, before nodding and quickening his pace. Once he was a foot away from the door, he inhaled sharply, before taking the first step out of the room. As he did, it felt as if the imaginary chains on his arms and legs broke off. His heart began to beat faster as he quickly walked towards the front door, wanting the first step outside. Before he could though, he turned, making sure he wasn't alone. At seeing Tess sleeping in the mans arms, Jarrett's heart leapt, moving his feet for him. His hand grasped the handle with greed on wanting out. And with a quick motion, and a few steps, the smell of a muggy night fell over them. A small smile creped up onto his face as he took the first step out onto the porch. Now, he didn't feel like a prisoner. Now, now he was finally free.

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**A/N: omg...omg...omg...! THEY GOT OUT! by gosh, finally!**

**but the question remains, who is the mystery man. it seems he knows her quite well, so someone from the WWE perhaps? hm...who knows.**

**and whats going to happen with Tess' mental state. she can't completely be there, considering what Punk did...how will everyone else react to her new behaviour.**

**and whoa...Jarrett...is a human being with emotions, and has the ability to care? wow, i think i just turned the story around crazily. who would have thought the enemy from the beginning that everyone hated, would become...a good guy? wow.**

**well until next time **


	91. Chapter Ninety

**Chapter Ninety:**

"So who is this person anyways?" Jay asked impatiently, looking down at his watch.

"You'll see." Chris stood against the wall patiently, smirking.

"I'm not a patient person. This is killing me." Jay moaned.

"Oh, give it a minute." Terry rolled his eyes. "They should be here shortly."

"Shortly means how long?" Jay asked.

But before Chris or Terry could answer, the sound of a knock interrupted their thoughts. All heads turned towards the door, wondering who it was. Finally, Chris pushed himself off from the wall, as Terry stood up from a chair, and the two walked together over to the door.

"I wonder if this is him." Jay muttered to Adam, who was rolling his eyes beside him.

"Well if you shut up, maybe we'll find out." Adam slapped him over the head.

Jay muttered a few curses before glaring at Adam. Adam rolled his eyes once more before glancing at the two men at the door.

"Oh hurry up and open it!" AJ exclaimed, reaching the impatience level that Jay was at.

The group laughed at the man, who just shrugged in response. Chris and Terry exchanged a glance before Chris threw open the door.

"Tommy." Chris greeted with a warm smile before embracing his good friend. "Good to see you."

"I see you brought back up." Terry grinned at him before glancing at the other three behind him. "Come on in you guys."

"Who is it?" Jay asked, trying to peer at the men behind Chris and Terry.

"I can't see because of you." Adam pushed Jay. "Move your big fat head."

"I don't have a big head. You have a big head." Jay defended.

"They still fight like little two year olds I see." Someone snickered.

Jay and Adam looked at one another with shocked expressions before seeing their old friend.

"LANCE!" they exclaimed before jJay pushed past them all and tackled him to the ground.

"Ow." Lance Storm grumbled. "Get the hell off me you baboon."

"Adam's the baboon." Jay obliged, before helping Lance up.

"Yeah, your just the idiot." Adam rolled his eyes before walking over and shaking hands with Lance. "It's been a long time man."

"Yeah. Could have waited a few years to see him." Lance nodded at Jay, who glared at them.

The group laughed as everyone walked into the room, taking in the four men.

"Tommy Dreamer, Lance Storm, Dean Malenko and Stevie Richards." Raven looked up from his chair. "Why am I not surprised."

"And we're glad to see you too Raven." Tommy rolled his eyes. "Well, now that almost the whole gang is back together, what do you say we get Tess back?"

* * *

"You should probably try to get some of the bleeding to stop." The man threw a few tissues into the backseat. 

Jarrett stole a glance at him through the small mirror, but quickly looked away when his eyes found his. Jarrett just simply nodded and grabbed the tissues before looking over at Tess. He was slightly broken hearted at the way she was just curled up, tears running down her face. She held her legs close to her body, as if trying to put herself into the smallest position possible. How she was sitting, it was just, so sad to Jarrett.

"Tess Hunny." The man spoke, trying to gain Tess' attention. "Jarrett isn't going to hurt you. All right? He just wants to help you okay? He's been good to you over the past weeks, you trust him to an extent. I need you to keep that trust, at least for now. He needs to try to stop some of the bleeding on the cut on your forehead. It's pretty bad. He wont intentionally hurt you. I promise. You know me sweetie; I wouldn't let anyone else do this unless I trusted them. Let him help you okay?"

Jarrett looked at him, surprised at his words, not really believing that he would speak them. The man just shrugged before waiting for a reply.

"Ok." The soft voice came from Tess, who was looking out the window, tears still streaming down her face.

Jarrett sighed in relief before unbuckling his seatbelt. He slowly edged towards Tess, not wanting to startle her. But an odd miracle happened, and she moved towards him. It may have been from the relief of knowing she was going home, or due to the extent of the injuries, but she knew she could somewhat trust Jarrett. He had been trying to take care of her in that room. He couldn't keep her safe, but he did try to keep her as healthy as possible. And as much as she wanted to hate him, she couldn't. She only hated one man. And that one man she was finally away from. For at least now. All she wanted was to go home. Home meaning Connecticut. She wanted to see her parents, her brother and sister; she just wanted to be away from everything. At least for now.

"I'm not going to hurt you okay?" Jarrett looked at her.

She nodded slowly before tensing as he wrapped an arm around her waist. After a moment, after seeing a nod from _him, _she relaxed into Jarrett's touch. But she couldn't help but wince as the rough tissue came into contact with her wound. It was so sensitive, that if air breezed over it, she was sure she would have done the same reaction. But the worst part was when she yawned slightly. She wasn't sure why, but she was feeling suddenly tired. Very tired. So tired, that she eventually found herself laying her head against Jarrett's chest, beginning to doze off.

Jarrett looked down at her, surprised by this. But after feeling his heart flutter, he just smiled and continued to hold the tissues to her cut.

"We're almost there." _He_ stated towards the two behind him, smiling inwardly at the connection between Jarrett and Tess.

Jarrett nodded as he lowered his hand, just draping that arm around Tess protectively. Tess shifted slightly, trying to gain more of Jarrett's warmth and protection. Jarrett gladly obliged as he held her closer.

"Turning into the parking lot." _He_ announced.

Jarrett raised his head as he looked out the car window. He couldn't help but feel relief as he saw the outside world. It was refreshing, as the closest he and Tess had gotten, was looking through that one window in the room.

"Alright, we're here." _H_e stopped the car, turning in the drivers seat to see the two behind him. A small smile rose on his lips as he saw Tess sleeping in Jarrett's arms. "I suppose one of us will have to carry her up."

"I'll do it." Jarrett nodded, clutching his hand on the handle.

He inhaled sharply before opening the door, taking in the smell of the air. He paused for a short moment, before slowly, and carefully, configuring himself and Tess out of the car. _He_ came around to Jarrett's side, helping a touch, before just standing back and watching. Seconds later, Tess was in Jarrett's arms, shifting for a mere seconds, before falling silent. Jarrett looked down at her before at the man who brought them here, as if waiting for direction.

"Lets go then I guess." He shrugged.

* * *

"So we know where she is. That's good." Dean cracked his knuckles. "So explain to me again why we have to wait to kick their ass'." 

"Because for all we know, they could have ten times more people than we do." Terry explained. "Believe me, I want to go in there and get her. But Daniels here is right. We can't take the risk."

"So we wait then." Stevie nodded. "Gives us time to rally in everyone."

"Everyone?" Benoit raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, Tommy here was talking to Vinnie Mac, and apparently there was an agreement." Stevie nodded.

All heads turned to Tommy.

"He pretty much told me, that if we needed anyone, including people under contract to him, he'll allow it for this cause." Tommy told everyone. "That, and, I had a nice talk with Paul Heyman. He says he'll contact anyone we need from the old ECW days. Which will help us."

"We should really be glad Tess is a McMahon right about now." Ray smiled slightly. "If she wasn't, we'd be screwed."

"No, we'd just have to try harder." Raven stated before looking at the door as a knock sounded from it. "Are we expecting anyone else."

Tommy, Stevie, Lance, and Dean all shook their heads. "Not that we know of. It was only us four coming tonight."

"Anyone else expecting anyone?"

Everyone shook their head.

"Are we expecting me to open it?" Raven asked with a frown.

"Considering you're at the door, yeah." Jay smirked at him.

Raven shot him a dark glare before trudging towards the door. "Just so we all know, If this is some sort of sick twisted trick, and I get jumped for opening this damn door, I will hurt you guys."

The group laughed as he just stuck up his middle finger at them before grabbing onto the doorknob. He inhaled sharply before opening the door. Immediately as he saw who it was, he rolled his eyes and groaned.

"I thought we weren't expecting anyone else?" Raven looked sideways at the group.

"You could be polite and let me in." Test rolled his eyes.

"I've never been polite. Especially towards you." Raven shot at him.

"Well how about for her?" he asked, taking a step to the side.

Raven's world practically shut down as he saw what he did.

"What?" Terry asked.

"Ah, you may want to see this." Raven managed out, not taking his eyes away from the hallway outside the door.

Terry raised an eyebrow before slowly standing up and walking to the door. He turned and practically jumped as he saw the sight that Raven had.

"Oh my god." His eyes widened.

"Thought you'd be happy." Test said, looking at the two.

Terry and Raven kept completely silent though as they starred. There was, a bruised, cut, and beaten, Jeff Jarrett, holding an even worse looking Tess, who appeared to be unconscious to their eyes. They just could help but gap.

* * *

**A/N: YAY!!! she's back!!! yayness! and awwwwwwwwwww Jarretts so cute! lol. and wow...its TEST!!! craziness!!!!!!!**

**yeah, im hyper, so sue me. hehe, wow, so i finally got this updated. took me long enough. but i did update LTZ, so ha. lol. anyways, dunno when the next chappie for this will be up, but hopefully soon. if nothing else, i'll think of stuff on the way and on the way back from Toronto Wed (school trip). but for now...**

**oh wait, forgot to say this...OMG!!! 90 Chapters!!! holy crap! i've gotta say, i never thought i would get this far. and the fun hasn't even started yet ;)**

**X.**


	92. Chapter Ninety One

**Chapter Ninety One**

"Here." Chris handed down a cloth.

Jarrett looked up, a bit surprised, but took the cloth nonetheless. Chris walked around the couch, and took a seat on the coffee table in front of Jarrett's place on the couch. The others, except Chris Benoit himself, Terry, Jay, Jeff, and Test, had been told to go home, with promises of updates and news in the morning. The other four were tending to Tess, watching over her, or just trying to clean off any of the blood that they could. She was sound asleep, so they didn't worry about trying to not wake her up. She didn't look like she wanted to anyways. Which left Chris alone with Jarrett. Which was what he wanted. He, out of Terry, Jay, and Jeff, would be the most reasonable. He was the only one that would hear him out without trying to kill the man. There was a reason Test brought him along. Everyone knew Punk and AMW betrayed Jarrett, they just didn't know how far from those ties Jarrett was at. Which was exactly what Chris wanted to find out.

"Why don't you tell me what happened, from the start of all this." Chris told him.

Jarrett lightly touched a cut on his forehead, wincing as he did so. After a few more tries, he just let the cloth fall onto his lap as he sighed and looked down.

"I would have thought I would have been killed as soon as I walked through that door." Jarrett admitted.

"Terry wanted to. He had to be held back." Chris cracked a small smile. "But, we all know they betrayed you. But we want to know how much we can actually trust you. If we can at all."

"Why would you want to trust me anyways?" Jarrett looked up. "All I've done is make their lives hell. I made her life hell up until recently. And still, the whole kidnapping idea was mine to begin with."

"But you didn't want to hurt her after you kidnapped her." Chris pointed out.

Jarrett scrunched up his eyebrows, trying to understand. "How did you know that?"

"Punk let it all out of the bag." Chris explained. "You didn't want to hurt her, which is some kind of sign that you're not all completely awful."

Jarrett looked back down at his lap.

"Look, just tell me everything that happened. You might be surprised with the outcome." Chris told him, persuading him to explain what happened.

Jarrett looked back up, waiting a moment, before nodding. Chris nodded back, encouraging him to start.

"Okay. Well when I originally came up with the idea to kidnap Tess, it was just going to be for a few days, to try to make her leave TNA. But then Punk decided to make it for a longer time. I agreed, but made it known that no one was to touch her, as we were in risk of getting into trouble with the kidnapping alone. But Punk went behind my back and started to hurt her. I had enough of it, so I told him to stop. That when they betrayed me, saying they were tired of me bossing them around. So they locked me into the same room we put Tess in." Jarrett stopped.

Chris nodded, taking everything in so far. "Go on."

Jarrett sighed and nodded. "Punk started to get more violent towards her, and began doing the same to me, only ten times worse. I guess somewhere in there we kind of screwed the hating each other thing, and started to help one another, to keep each other alive. Somewhere in the midst of it, I actually felt myself wanting to protect her. I have no clue why though."

Chris, shocked to say the least, nodded. "You grew a heart and felt guilty. Its not unusual."

Jarrett shrugged. "Yeah, so I guess I tried to protect her from them. I couldn't do much though. I was hardly strong enough to keep myself upright, nonetheless take on the hounds of people Punk got. Then they took her again. They put he in the basement I think, and…"

"And?" Chris asked.

Jarrett fought to find the right words, but couldn't.

"What happened?"

"All I heard was her screaming, crying. It was like that most of the days and nights for a week or so. Then finally they stopped. That's when Test brought her back into the room, which brings us to here." Jarrett looked down.

Chris felt his insides churn as he tried to picture what Jarrett was telling him. It disgusted him, to think they could do that to anyone.

"I never meant for any of this to happen." Jarrett said, continuing to look down at him lap. "I never wanted this to happen. I just wanted to get her out of TNA. I didn't want to hurt her like this."

"I know." Chris nodded laying a hand on Jarrett's shoulder.

"I don't even want her out of TNA now." Jarrett surprised himself. "I just want revenge on that bastard. For hurting me, and her."

"He's going to get what's coming to him." Terry made the two jump by saying that.

Chris looked past Jarrett. "How long have you been standing there?"

"Long enough." Terry answered. "Look Jarrett, the moment I saw you, I wanted to tear you apart. But now, I can see you hate Punk just as much as we do. You show us that you've changed, and we may just forgive you. But show us one piece of evidence that your still that bastard, and we're going to hurt you more than Punk ever did. Got it?"

Jarrett looked up. Chris nodded at him, as if telling him to take the deal. Jarrett looked over his shoulder at Terry, with Jay and Jeff standing behind him. Jarrett looked between the three before nodding in agreement.

"Good. Now, what does this house look like…"

* * *

"We shouldn't have trusted that bastard." Punk threw a chair across the room; clearly outraged at finding that both Tess and Jarrett were gone, with Test nowhere in sight.

"I told you to choose wisely." Mitchell sat solemnly in a high back chair, Abyss standing beside it.

"I thought I could trust him." Punk gritted his teeth, throwing a vase now, making both members of AMW flinch.

Seeing them, Punk immediately rounded on them. "If it weren't for you too buffoons, we wouldn't have left. You two imbeciles."

Harris and Storm looked between one another, both nervous.

"Remind me to never listen to you two again." Punk narrowed his eyes before glaring back at the rest of the waiting group.

He looked at each and every one of them. They all looked nervous, as if afraid of what he could do to them. It excited him slightly, knowing he had this much power over the majority of them. But the fact that he had lost the two people he was keeping captured, it blew away any sort of excitement. His plans were ruined. There was going to be no chance that the idiots will leave either alone at all. Punk would just have to think of another way to get at Tess. And he was determined to do so. There was no way he was about to just let them get the better of him. He would get her back in his grasps. And this time around, he wasn't about to hold himself back. He was going to show her what hell really was. And he didn't care if he died in the process.

* * *

**A/N: did i just update this story? shocker...its been forever eh? lol, sorry about that, i had a huge mental block. but, as its the first day of Christmas Break, and im bored, and waiting for Christmas to happen on Monday, i finally got some inspiration, and wrote. its not the longest, but its an update nonetheless**

**seems the gang isn't going to kill Jarrett...yet...he seems like a changed man, so lets hope he stays that way.**

**as for Punk...well...he's being a poo head, and trying to plan to get her back...hm...**

**but heres a thought...if Jarrett's power became his demise...could the same happen to Punk?**

**u ponder over that...till next time...**

**X.**


	93. Chapter Ninety Two

**Chapter Ninety-Two:**

"I think it's about time you stop moping around Terry." Ray sat beside Terry, who had his head leaning against the wall behind him.

"Yeah, what's up with you lately man?" Devon asked as he tapped his wrists, getting ready for the tapings that night.

"Nothing." Terry mumbled.

"Right." Chris rolled his eyes. "I've known you for way to long terry. What's wrong?"

"I just miss Tess." Terry sighed, looking at everyone. "We just got her back, but now she's gone again. Who knows when we'll see her. Her father will baby her. Yes, she needs a lot of time off. But why couldn't she do it here? We're capable of taking care of her. We've been doing it for long enough."

"But she's safe in Connecticut." Steve Austin reminded him, speaking up. "She's not here."

"Yeah big man." AJ nodded. "As much as I want her here, she's safe there. Here, she'll have Punk around. If she's at home, not so much."

"Yeah, and you know her. She's stubborn." Jay grinned. "Give her a month or so, and she'll be demanding to come back. You know her, I know her, and we all know her. She'll be back in a month I bet."

"Yeah." Terry nodded numbly. "I hope so."

* * *

_Bound For Glory, Detroit Michigan_

"Okay guys, quiet down." Scott called over all the voices.

It was Bound For Glory. It was the biggest night for TNA, and even bigger as it was their first PPV out on the road. But no one inside of that room cared. All they were thinking was how they were going to survive the night. Over the past months, it had been hell for both sides. Men were hospitalized, titles changed, new acquisitions showed up. It was pure hell for both sides. And it was all due to a woman who wasn't even present, and hadn't been for months now. But the war was going strong still. They were all emotionally drained, but ready to take on anyone they had to that night. For five individuals though, it was a lot more than that.

Ray and Devon, Team 3D, were the most decorated tag team, and had finally won the NWA Tag Team Titles, but tonight, they were on the line against TNA's most decorated tag team, Americas Most Wanted.

Traci Brooks, the fierce Canadian Beauty, was to take on the women's Champion, Gail Kim. She had been given the title after it had been stripped from Tess. Traci was the only one left who was willing to fight on behalf of her newly found friend, Tess.

AJ Styles, the master of the Styles Clash, is the only man in TNA history, to have held every single title TNA had to offer, on more than one occasion. But tonight, he was to fight the newly crowned X Division Champion, Jimmy Rave, who was once, AJ's protégé.

And finally, Jeff Jarrett. He was once the most hated man in wrestling. But months previously, he was turned into a fan favorite, earning the respect by everyone after the reunited team of Triple X saved him from CM Punk and his faction of superstars. He was once the World Heavyweight Champion, but lost to the new most hated man in wrestling history, CM Punk. Tonight, tonight was his redemption to win back the title that belonged to him.

For the rest, they were set of clearing the way for the four, to make sure they had their chance to win, or retain. Team Canada was shining up hockey sticks to accompany Ms Brooks. Triple X was tying up their boots to make sure Jeff Jarrett won the match. The Ex ECW alumni were picking out their weapons to help out the masters of the tables, Team 3D. And lastly, Rhino and Stone Cold Steve Austin were pumping up to make sure that the Embassy, were taken down from the crown seating. It was all set. Every inch of the matches, every backstage interview and promo. Everything was set. Except for how to erase the thoughts that really ran through their minds.

"Alright, tonight is Bound For Glory. We all know what tonight means. Its TNA's biggest night, and even more so as we're not in Florida tonight. For the past few months, the whole Locker room has been split down the middle, going to war with one another. Tonight, everything we've sacrificed is going to pay off." Scott began. "Tonight, Ray, Devon, you guys are going to show AMW just how damn good you two are."

"Damn straight." Ray grinned. "I think it's just about table time."

"Oh my brother, testify." Devon smirked, making the room break out in laughter.

Scott quickly quieted them back down. "As I was saying. AJ, you've had hate towards Jimmy since he stole your finisher. Tonight, your going to get your revenge and win back that title that made a name for itself by being around your waist."

AJ gave Petey a high five before giving Scott the thumbs up. Scott nodded before continuing.

"Traci, you're new to the group, but there's no denying you have talent. Being a Canadian, you'll have Team Canada's support, but I know you have what it takes to make it to the top."

Traci blushed as Eric fixed his arm around his newly found girl.

"And finally." All eyes fell onto Jeff Jarrett, who was sitting alone on the farthest bench, looking down between his knees. "None of us really liked you Jeff. You threatened us, you made our lives hell. You made us do things we aren't proud of. But you showed that you're a changed man. You apologized, in front of all those fans, which shows courage. We're not completely over what you've done in the past, but in the last couple of months, you've earned all of our respect. So tonight, it's about time that that title, becomes yours once again."

Jeff looked up, a determined smile on his face.

"And for everyone else, give it all you have. We all are the best in this room. We're better than Punk and his idiots. We have more talent, more brains, and…"

"We're all better looking!" Alex interrupted, making terry smack him over the head. "What, its true!"

Scott rolled his eyes. "And yes, we're better looking. But at the very least, we have heart. We are this company, we are wrestling. So go show those bastards what we're made of. Go show those fans, exactly why TNA is the best damn wrestling available."

A moment of silence fell through the room before clapping started. And then came the cheering, the hi-fives, and the chatter. They all knew what was in stake tonight. They were all ready. They were ready to take on the fight of their life, no matter the outcome.

* * *

M-"we've had one heck of a night."

D-"we have. This is truly TNA's biggest PPV ever in TNA history. This shows why we are the best out there today."

D-"that's right. Tonight, all the guys in the back have given it their all. We saw the ever so unique wrestler, Alex Shelley win in the 16 man battle royal, beating out his own team mates, Petey Williams, Chris Sabin, Sonjay Dutt, and Jay Lethal. And then we saw the reunited team of Triple X take on Colt Cabana and Ace steel from the Second City Saints in a handicap match, winning victoriously."

M-"and then there was the ever so devastating Monsters Ball Match with Rhino, Julio Dinero, Samoa Joe, and Abyss, with Samoa Joe continuing his winning streak with the win of the match."

D-"and talk about split sides. Samoa Joe took the hand of Rhino, joining the Alliance tonight."

M-"it was surprising, but they're unstoppable now."

D-"that's right. But unfortunately, they were beatable in the next bout between Gail Kim and Traci Brooks, with Gail Kim retaining the belt after Alexis Laree took care of Ms Brooks."

M-"what was probably so far the match of the night, we saw AJ Styles take on Jimmy Rave of the embassy. As we know, Jimmy Rave was once the protégé of AJ Styles, but turned on him in Ring Of Honor by stealing AJ's finisher, the Styles Clash, and naming it the Raves Clash, claiming it was his move all along."

D-"but AJ, having the skill in the Ultimate X match, won, becoming the X Division Champion once again."

M-" and then came the number once contender tag team scramble. The winner of that match, would become the number one contender, and will face either Team 3D or AMW next month at Genesis. We had the thug team of LAX, the Briscoe Brothers, The Naturals with Shane Douglas in their corner, the returning team of the Disciples Of The New Church, Slash and Sinn, The James Gang, and the new team of the Kings Of Wrestling, Chris Hero, and Claudio Castagnoli."

D-"the rules of the match were simple. One member from two of the teams would enter the match. They can tag anyone from any team, including their own. Once one member of the team is eliminated, their whole team is. The last team remaining became the number one contender."

M-"it was a close match, but Homicide, from LAX, brought in his old friends from Ring Of Honor, the Rottweilers, and was able to make LAX the number one contenders."

D-" the next match though, was a shocking one. We saw Raven, going against his archrival, the Sandman. It was like an old ECW match, as the two went back and forth with any weapon they could find."

M-"But it was at the end that Sandman turned on CM Punk, and came to the Alliance, shocking everyone, including Raven."

D-"Raven's face was priceless. He was completely shocked as the Sandman shook his hand."

M-"I think the whole world is shocked Don."

D-"but then came the Tag Team Title Belt between Team 3D, and AMW. This was completely back and forth, with Team 3D using the tables, and AMW getting that Death Sentence on them. But at the end, Team 3D won out, retaining the titles."

M-" and now, it's the time everyone has been waiting for. Ever since it was signed last month at No Surrender, everyone has been waiting to see Jeff Jarrett, against the newly crowned NWA World Heavyweight Champion, CM Punk."

D-"Punk came in here, and made a disgrace out of this company. But now, the Fans get their revenge, with their newly favorite man, Jeff Jarrett, ready to take him on."

M-"But the question remains, who will have the most men. We know both sides will interfere. But which side will have the most workingmen. Every single man out there tonight has put their body on the line. It will remain unseen until the precise moment on which team has the most able body men."

D-"that's right Mike. To think this started all the way back to last year at Bound For Glory."

M-"It's been a year in the making. Think back, if you can. The ever so missed Tess McMahon had her first TNA PPV match one year ago in this very ring, against Jeff Jarrett himself."

D-"She even won the match. But from there, Jeff Jarrett took it upon himself, and Planet Jarrett, to try to rid her from TNA."

M-"But if didn't work. Until CM Punk was hired by Jeff Jarrett to take her out. But CM Punk had a different plan, betraying Jeff Jarrett all together."

D-"and now Tess is off on extended leave, while Jeff Jarrett, along with all of her friends here in TNA, make sure that her honor is upheld."

M-"and that's what I believe Jeff Jarrett is doing tonight. We know he wants his title back, as well as getting his own revenge. But we also remember that speech he gave when he came back to TNA after his injury leave. He swore to the fans that he would get revenge, not only for himself, but also for the fans, as well as Tess McMahon. We know those two never saw eye to eye before, but now, it's a different picture."

D-"and tonight we get to see the match finally. But it clear that everyone here misses Tess. The fans have signs; everyone in the back feels it. It's a shame not to have her here for such a tremendous event."

M-"But she's here in spirit. I believe that wherever she is, she's watching her television right now, about ready to cheer on the match that's coming up right now."

D-"that's right. And for us, the building is being blown away as Jeff Jarrett's music has begun. He match of the century is now about to start. Hold onto your seats, this is going to be a big one."

* * *

**A/N: i think i just did two updates in one day...shocker...lol...who would have thought eh?**

**well, i couldn't help it, i got inspiration lol. **

**So Tess is off at home, and has been for a few months. is there a return soon? or is she forever gone?**

**and now its BFG (k, so mostly did that cuz i was starting to get sick of writing in the past, now we're closer to being up to date with everything), the biggest night for TNA, and it looked like a bomb. you have the Alliance (the good guys), and then you have Punk's team...have yet to think of a cool name for them...so suggestions are welcome.**

**the matches, definitely look awesome, would have written them...but knowing me...i wouldn't have known where to start...and yes, i brought it my favourite ROH teams...cant help a girl for wanting to lol. hm...maybe a reunited Generation Next will make an appearance...ha, i just gave myself an idea lmao.**

**anyways, the one thing that has yet to be seen, is who will win the next match...Punk...or Jarrett...what do you guys think?**

**and when, if ever, will Tess come back?**

**till next time.**

**X.**


	94. Chapter Ninety Three

**Chapter Ninety Three:**

"Keep your cool man." Chris looked at Jeff, noticing how much he was fidgeting, waiting for Punk to walk down the opposite ramp.

"Kind of hard considering." Jeff muttered.

"You'll win. We took out Cabana and Steel earlier. So even if they did come down, they wont be one hundred percent." Elix told him.

"Corino is the only one to worry about." Ki cracked his knuckles, a smirk plastered over his usually stern face. "And I've got that covered."

Jeff nodded, though still felt those butterflies in his stomach. He wasn't just doing this match for himself. He was doing this for everyone who has gotten hurt because of that bastard Punk. He was doing this for the boys backstage. And most importantly, he was doing this for the girl that hadn't been seen for months.

"This is it." Chris said as Punk's music blared through the arena.

Jeff clutched his fists, his fingernails digging into the palm of his hands. He ignored the slight pain though. The only thing he was concerned with, was that man walking out of the tunnel to a chorus of boos. He was the only one in this whole arena to Jeff. No one else mattered. Right now, in his sense of mind, there was no crowd, there was no triple X, and there was no Second City Saints. It was only he and Punk. That's all that mattered.

"So he actually brought those two down." Elix commented. "Hardly look like they can walk though."

"We'll take care of them." Chris nodded. "You just worry about Punk. That's the only person you have to be focused on."

Jeff numbly nodded as Punk slipped into the ring, cockily flashing the NWA World Heavyweight Championship at him. He was furious at how Punk had stolen the belt from him. Although Jeff knew he had disgraced the title earlier on in the year, he was passed that. He saw the title for something else now. He saw it for its honor, its prestige. But all Punk had been doing with it, is throwing it around like it was just a piece of metal. But it wasn't just a piece of metal. It was so much more. It was the blood, sweat, and tears of those who had held it before him. When looking at the belt, you saw the faces of the greats, the legends. For Punk to completely disgrace it like he has, it made Jeff sick. It made them all sick to witness. He was ready to show Punk that that belt was more than just something to be worn. It meant honor.

"This is your main event for tonight's Bound For Glory right here in Detroit Michigan." Jeremy Borash paused for a moment as the crowd cheered. "It's for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. To my left, he is the challenger and former NWA World Heavyweight Champion, being accompanied in the ring by Triple X, he hails from Nashville Tennessee, and weighed in today at 230lbs, he is the King Of The Mountain, JEFF JARRETT!"

The thousands in attendance immediately jumped out of their chairs and cheered for the man they thought they would always hate. There was a small spurt of happiness as Jeff stood on one of the turnbuckles, posing to the crowd. He had almost forgotten what it felt like to be cheered like this.

"And now to my right, he is the current NWA World Heavyweight Champion, being accompanied in the ring by the Second City Saints, he hails from Chicago Illinois and weight in today at 222lbs, he is CM PUNK!!!"

CM Punk smirked widely as he lifted the belt up only to quickly throw it at Earl Hebner as if it was a toy. This made the crowd boo him even more than possibly made sense.

"Alright guys, clean fight." Earl looked between both competitors as Triple X and Second City Saints left the ring.

Jeff and Punk ignored him though as they glared holes through one another. There were no words to describe the amount of hate they held towards one another. None of this was business. At the end of the day, everything they did in the ring, it was completely personal.

"Hope people know where your Will is." Punk took a step forward. "Because they're going to have to look for it after this."

"We'll see whose the one that dies, Punk." Jeff spat back.

Punk just snickered. Jeff, now completely through with Punk's games, speared Punk to the ground. Silence reigned in the arena, as they looked on shocked. That was far from the usual way that wrestlers would start a regular match. Punk as well looked surprised as he pushed Jeff off of him and slid down to the ground below the ring. The front row fans just laughed at the shocked look on his face as he starred into the ring at the smirking Jeff. He too wasn't expecting such a hard hit right at the beginning.

* * *

"1…2…"

The fans clapped loudly as Jeff was able to get his shoulder up just in time. Although he had a great start into the match, it quickly was able to turn around on him. Between interference from both sides, both men had their chances at the upper hand. But ever since the Embassy came out and began fighting Triple X through the crowd and to the back, Punk held the needed upper hand, almost ending the match on countless of occasions. But Jeff wasn't about to let him win this easily. He had gone through much worse then this and never gave up. And he wasn't about to do so right now. Even now as Steve distracted the ref, allowing for Punk to pull out a pair of brass knucks, he never gave up.

Jeff stood there, dazed but awake as he tried to blink away the blood from his face. Even though he had blood pouring down his face, he was still able to clearly see the reflection from the brass knucks in Punk's hand. As Punk came at him with a punch, Jeff ducked under his arm, saving himself from another devastating blow. As Punk turned back around in frustration, Jeff was able to use a burst of unknown energy and pulled out a perfect drop kick, surprising Punk himself. The fans roared in approval as Jeff got the refs attention and went for the pin. But before the ref could count to three, Jeff was pulled off Punk by the feet and out of the ring. Punk glanced over and smirked as he saw Steve and Colt throwing a round of punches and forearms at Jeff. Seeing the ref about to go break it up, Punk quickly distracted him, using a fake injury as an excuse.

Meanwhile, the blood lost from Jeff was increasing significantly as the two finally threw him back into the ring. Jeff tried to blink away some of the pain, but felt that familiar tug at his consciousness. He fought back, but somehow knew it wasn't enough as Punk quickly went for the pin.

"1…2…"

That's when it happened. That's when a miracle seemed to have come upon Jeff, saving him from losing the match; the lights went out.

Punk went absolutely berserk as he started yelling at the ref to do something. Jeff meanwhile, was breathing heavily, trying to regain some kind of strength. But it didn't seem as if he had to, as the lights once again came back on. However, as they did, it was soon found that there was a man missing in the ring. Punk stood looking around confused, as Jeff blinked, to make sure he wasn't seeing things. There was no ref. One moment he was there, and the next, he was not.

But then, as if answering their questions came a mystery man, clad with a baggy sweatshirt and hood. As they looked towards the ring from the outside, Jeff was able to notice a mask, hiding their identity. Jeff was beyond confused, wondering if this person was against him or here to help. This was soon answered though, as they slid into the ring behind Punk, who was of course, clueless to what was happening. Moments later, the mystery man was turning Punk around, and connecting with an implant DDT right on the head. They didn't even look Jeff's way as they slid back out of the ring only to pull the ref to his feet and throw him back in. Jeff, although he had cut out cheating for the past few months, knew that this might be his only chance to regain that title back. And he was going to do anything to make sure all the titles were on the light side of this company. So he slowly crawled across the ring, blood staining the mat as he went. Soon enough, he was able to drape an arm across Punk, allowing for the ref to start the count.

"1…2…3!"

The fans roared as they immediately were all on their feet. Jeff meanwhile turned over onto his back, taking the much-needed gasps of air. The ref went to get the belt, only to be intersected by the mystery man. Jeff wiped away some of the blood before propping up into a sitting position, though using his hands as leverage. He glanced over as the mystery man slid back into the ring, the world title in their hands. Jeff watched as they walked over, standing before him.

The fans were dead silent now as they tried to figure out who this mystery man was, and what they wanted. But it was soon found out as they held out their hand for Jeff to take. Jeff looked at it for a moment, noticing that it was much smaller than a mans hand. He shook it off though as he grabbed it and, with the help of the mystery man, was able to stand on his feet. The mystery man held the title to him, motioning for him to take the title that was his. Jeff took it and held it tightly to his body. He then glanced to the fans before lifting it above his head, a smile finding its way to his face. As he turned back to the mystery man though, he witnessed them beginning to take off the baggy sweatshirt.

It was as if two miracles happened in one night for all fans in attendance. As the sweatshirt was lifted above their head, brown flowing hair became free, as well as the petite body of a woman. Jeff's heart began beating quicker than normal as a pang of hope fell over him. His hope was answered as the mask was lifted off as well, revealing the mystery man to be Tess McMahon herself.

* * *

**A/N: oh yeah, i totally...after many months off, got a chapter done again! wow...its definitely been awhile...like months...but yeah...its not my most proudest chapter...but it gets everything across well enough to post. and hey...i cant keep you guessing for more that a year right? lol**

**i would like to apologize for not updated in months though. between school, personal issues, friends, as well as a huge amount of writers block for not only this story, but all my on-going stories, its been a really tough rollercoaster. but i'm back for now. i already have a bit of the next chapter done...wrote some of it before this chapter lol...so hopefully it wont be another few months before its updated. summer is coming...so hopefully i'll have alot more time to write.**

**so...onto the story...Tess is back :) yep...and she helped Jeff win the title back :) how awesome is that? lol**

**anyways...i gotta go see what else needs to be done...**

**until next time**

**X. **


	95. Chapter Ninety Four

**Chapter Ninety-Four:**

Tess stood in the middle of the ring, her feet glued to the mat. Around her, fans were on their feet, celebrating the return of the woman. But Tess ignored them as she looked across the ring at the new World Champion. Jeff Jarrett. She still hadn't figured out how she felt about the man yet. He had helped her a lot while they were trapped in that hell hold. She knew that if it hadn't been for him, she may not of been standing here before everyone, able to wrestle again. He did everything he could to keep her spirits up. He sacrificed a lot for her.

But a small part of Tess just couldn't forget the past. Jarrett had been the one to bring everything on. He had taken her debut in the completely opposite meaning. He had been the one to organize all those hits on her. He had been the one to bring in Punk to destroy her. Could simply saving her live change all of that?

Meanwhile, Jeff was doing cartwheels inside. He couldn't believe he was face to face with her again. He had been almost certain that after everything that had happened, she wouldn't show her face in this ring again. But here she was, looking better than ever, and most importantly, she was here.

Though, he would be kidding himself if he didn't acknowledge that flicker of doubt he could see in her blue eyes. It shot a pang of disappointment through him. Disappointment for himself. It was still his fault. No matter how many of her friends he could befriend, no matter how many times he could apologize, it will always be his fault. He had done this. He may have not hurt her to the extent that Punk had, but nonetheless, he still hurt her. And Jeff could tell that was still weighing heavily on her shoulders.

"_Welcome Back! Welcome Back!"_

Tess removed her eyes from Jeff's, and finally acknowledged the fans in the large arena. It felt odd to her, to be standing in a TNA ring, and yet, not be back in the Impact Zone. Though it was a relief. She knew she couldn't handle going back there just yet. It brought back to many memories that she had tried to forget while being away. It was better that they had finally gone on the road and were here tonight in Detroit.

"Tess…" Jeff made a movement towards her.

Tess' gaze finally fell back on him, taking everything in. The last time she had seen him, He had been in worse shape than she was. And now, minus the few scars that they both knew were never going to fade, he looked much more healthier than she had ever seen him. _And happier_ Tess thought to herself. And it was true. He did. For once even, Tess truly did believe that it was much deeper than just holding that title.

"Tess," Jeff repeated, taking another step forward, almost in touching reach.

Tess shook her head though. She wasn't ready for this yet. She still had a lot of thinking to do. She couldn't go back to how everything was. With her friends, with wrestling. It was all different now. She didn't even fully understand why she had decided to come here today. She never planned it. It had just happened. She just felt a tug to come here and somehow be a part of it. Or, in some subconscious way, she wanted to show some sort of life. To show her friends that she was okay. But, now that she had, she wasn't sure where to go from here. She wasn't ready to go backstage and see everyone. She knew she couldn't handle it emotionally.

"Tess?" Jeff asked, stopping in his place.

Tess glanced back around the arena before resting on his now soft blue eyes. She gave him an apologetic smile before quickly slipping out of the ring. She sent one last glance back at him before hopping over the barricade and pushed away the cheering fans. Jeff just stood there in the ring, completely stunned. The fans themselves were stunned. As was everyone backstage.

* * *

"Was that?" Was all AJ could gasp out.

"Yeah," Petey nodded numbly.

"Where's she going?" Eric asked innocently.

"I don't know," Petey shrugged before looking over at the pale man beside him. "AJ? Are you alright?"

AJ nodded, but refrained from taking his eyes off the screen where they were showing a replay of Tess interfering in the last match of the night.

"I can't believe it," AJ whispered.

"I know eh?" Petey couldn't help but grin. He may have been shocked, but he was ecstatic that the woman they all seemed to be worried about was back. "Can't believe she's back."

"Yeah," AJ blinked a few times before realized the screen had gone black. "I have to find her."

"Well for one, kind of stalkerish," Petey pointed out. "And don't you think that if she ran off, she didn't want to see anyone?"

"I don't care," AJ stood up, a look of determination in his blue eyes. "I've gone too long without just seeing her. I need to talk to her."

Petey opened his mouth to retort, but before a sound could even come out, AJ had fled the room in search of the woman he cared for.

"I have a feeling this won't end well," Eric commented.

"For once EY, I think your right," Petey shook his head.

* * *

"Well well well, look who decided to show her face." The sly smirk crossed Alex's face as he leaned against the car Tess was quickly moving towards.

At the familiar voice, Tess stopped dead in her tracks. A groan escaped her lips as she saw him leaning against her car, not looking like he would move.

"Hi Alex," she muttered with a sigh.

"Hi back at ya," Alex pushed himself off the car, but wouldn't budge from where he was standing in front of the drivers side. "Where have you been?"

"Home," Tess answered simply.

"You know people have been worried about you," Alex commented.

"And people have also known where I've been." Tess shrugged, beginning to grow impatient. "Could we do this another time?"

"Considering you've been blocking any of our calls, no," Alex shook his head. "You know AJ has been a complete wreck."

"I know."

"Really? I don't actually think you do. Now I don't love the guy, but I do have to put up with him quite a lot. I'm rather bored of his moping around," Alex crossed his arms.

"I know." Tess rolled her eyes.

"You keep saying that, but you really don't know."

"Believe me Alex, I know."

Alex snickered.

"Adam has been telling John everything and John's been replaying it all back to me. I know everything that's happened since I've been gone," Tess told him.

"Oh."

"Yeah, so can you move now?"

"No," Alex shook his head.

"Please Alex, I cant deal with everyone right now," Tess pleaded with him.

"Well you shouldn't have come then," Alex pointed out.

"I had to come. I just…"

"Wanted to abandon us again?"

Tess sighed, "You all know why I left."

"You could have at least called once in awhile,"

"I know, but I just couldn't. I wasn't ready," Tess glanced back at the building, "Please Alex."

"No. I want an answer as to why no one heard from you," Alex stated stubbornly.

Thoughts ran Tess' minds as she tried to figure out what to do. She knew that if she stayed here for any longer, any one of her friends would find her. And if Tess knew her friends, none of them would let her leave. So it was either now or never.

"Look, how about we go for a drive," Tess suggested, "I'll tell you what you want to know, and then you can tell them."

Alex thought it over before finally nodding. "Fine with me."

"Thank god," Tess muttered before quickly grabbing her keys from her pocket and jamming them into the lock.

* * *

**A/N: did I just? could i have? **

**oh thats right, i updated! miracle eh? lol. well it has been a rather rather long time i know. but i got some random inspiration today during my afternoon off of school, so i thought, hey, why not, lets give someone something to read lol.**

**oh, and i better say it now before i forget...**

**this story is going to be underconstruction for the next bit. why? well, due to...i guess recent could suffice...happenings in the world of wrestling, and mostly including Chris Benoit, i personally don't feel comfortable with having him in this story. This is my own personal preference, and I'm sorry if i happen to offend someone by this. It's just, something that ive been thinking about, and i believe this is the reason the story has been put on hold for as long as it has. so, i'm gonna try and keep writing the chapters, but meanwhile, i will be editing alot of them to write Benoit out. again, sorry if i offend anyone by this, but i just dont feel right about keeping him in it.**

**but...getting away from that...its updated :) im happy. course it'll probably be another like 6 months for the next chapter :P (i kid) but yeah. hope everyone likes it. thanks to writers craft, i'm actually getting better as i writer i believe lol (who would of thought some subject in school could help with that lol).**

**so yeah, till next time...**

**X.**


	96. Chapter Ninety Five

**Chapter Ninety-Five:**

"So what happened after you left?" Alex asked after a few moments of silence.

I ignored him as I focused on getting out of the general area of the arena. I wasn't taking any chances of being followed. The whole ordeal with Punk had at least raised my awareness, the only remotely somewhat positive thing to come out of it all.

"Tess?" Alex pestered.

"I heard you." I muttered.

"Waiting for an answer then." I heard him tapping his fingers on the dashboard.

"Will you stop that?" I shot him a pointed look.

"Sorry."

I sighed heavily before taking a turn and slowly down.

"I went home."

"Well clearly." Alex rolled his eyes. "But details."

I shrugged. "I rested up. My parents took me to a private hospital, where I had security guards securing my safety 24/7. Took them forever to finally let me go home."

"Ooo, body guards. Bet you felt special."

"More like an over protected object." I murmured silently.

"Understandable I guess."

"Very." I nodded. "Well my parents, mostly my father, wouldn't let me out of their sights for the first bit. He wouldn't even go on the road with Raw. He'd just stay home. Same with my mom. They wanted to make sure I was safe. And I guess to catch up for the time they hadn't heard from me."

"That must have been a drag. Having your parents around all the time." Alex snorted. "Would have been hell for me."

"Well considering I already went through hell, it was pretty decent." I snapped.

"Right…" Alex paused. "Sorry."

"No, I'm sorry. I've just been really snappy lately." I gave him an apologetic smile as we stopped at a light.

"It's fine. Considering everything." Alex nodded.

I nodded, focusing back on the road.

"Hey, I don't know about you, but I'm pretty starved. Wanna swing by somewhere and get something to eat? That way when I ask a stupid question and you want to kill me, we both won't die."

I couldn't help but smile and roll my eyes at him. Alex and I had never really bonded too much before everything happened. But he was still that odd person who I just had to consider a friend. He understood things the others wouldn't. That's why I think I was fine with talking with him. He wasn't close. He wasn't that person who would judge me from what happened in my past. He was as close as a stranger could get, and yet, still have that familiarity that made you feel comfortable.

"Unless that was a stupid question and I'm going to die now." Alex gave me a sideways glance.

I chuckled. "No, it's a good idea. I'm pretty starved myself."

Alex nodded. "There's a McDonalds up a block."

I gave him an odd look.

"What? I live here remember. Detroit native all the way."

"Oh right." I nodded. "Completely forgot. Guess we've just been in Orlando for so long eh?"

"Yeah. Sometimes forget where we're from." Alex nodded. "Try to come up here as much as I can. Petey and I live together you know."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah. Well he was living alone in Windsor, and me here, so we figured it would save rent. Though he's a slob."

I laughed. "Would expect you to be the slob, not Petey."

"Well I am, but I swear, he's worse." Alex nodded, a smile on his lips. "He'll just deny it all."

I rolled my eyes.

"It is good to see you back you know."

"I'm not fully back yet."

"You will be."

"How do you know that?"

"Because its you. Your Tess McMahon. You wouldn't let something like this keep you from wrestling. Or at least, that's what I got from your first stint." Alex shrugged.

I glanced over at him. "Yeah, maybe."

* * *

"So, your parents around all the time really was okay?" Alex raised an eyebrow as he propped a fry into his already full mouth.

"Oh close your mouth will you!" I threw a napkin at him. "That's disgusting."

"-orry." He mumbled, excess food spilling from his mouth.

"Oh my god." I rolled my eyes, praying no one was paying attention to us. "You're a five year old I swear."

"Not in body, but in spirit." Alex grinned after swallowing his mouth full.

"Wow." I laughed.

Alex continued to grin as he grabbed another fry. "So really, you didn't want to kill your parents by the end of it?"

"Nope." I shook my head. "I was always close with my dad, so it just gave us time to catch up I suppose. It was nice. Haven't spent time with my family in years it seems. Though, I guess technically it has been. Was just nice. Refreshing in a way. And I got to see my new baby niece."

"So no killing parents. Gotcha." Alex nodded. "So all you did was hang with your family?"

"I saw people from the WWE. John and Randy were around a lot. Probably wouldn't have been able to get over a lot of crap if it weren't for those two. I swear they're like brothers in disguise."

"And here I hated them."

I rolled my eyes. "Shawn got me back into training bit by bit. My father hated it of course. But Paul was able to get him around. Physically I feel better than I ever have. Learned a few new tricks too."

"I have a feeling I wont want to get into the ring with you any time soon."

"Probably not." I smirked.

"So that's it? Nothing juicy?"

"Not really" I shrugged. "There was a moment while I was home that I was doubting ever coming back. I was so close to just quitting TNA, and going to the WWE."

"Really?" Alex seemed surprised.

"Yeah."

"So why didn't you follow through with it?" Alex leaned forward, interested.

"My dad really. Surprisingly actually. He kind of pushed me away from that thought. Said my friends needed me, and I needed them. And that the WWE wasn't right for me. Apparently he gets that now."

"So you're going to stay?"

"Possibly." I paused. "I do miss everyone."

"So, why run in and out so fast then? Why not stay and see them all?" Alex questioned.

"I couldn't." I shook my head, looking down at the table. "I want to come back. But I'm not completely sure I'm ready. Physically I can't wait to get back into the ring. Mentally however, I don't know. I think I still have some issues to deal with."

"Why today, why here? You could have made a surprise appearance anywhere."

"I could have. But this would have been more of an impact. And it was. Although I don't know if I was up to doing what I did, I'm happy I did it. I want revenge Alex. Stone cold revenge. What Punk did to me, did to all of us, I need to right that wrong. I want to take him down. Tonight was just one step towards that goal."

"Alright, so let me get this straight. You want revenge, but you're not sure if your ready to come back, but you also just made a surprise appearance at the biggest show for TNA." Alex tapped his chin. "Call me crazy, but I think your completely messed up."

I rolled my eyes at him. "I appreciate that Alex."

"No prob." He smirked. "No, but seriously. I think your ready; you're just trying to find reasons not to come back. If you weren't mentally ready, you wouldn't have done what you did tonight."

"I guess." I shrugged.

Alex paused for a moment and traced the imperfections in the table.

"Do you forgive Jeff?" He asked.

I looked up surprised by the question.

"Uh…What?"

"Do you forgive Jeff?" Alex repeated.

"Um…I don't know." I shrugged.

"You don't know?" he raised an eyebrow.

"I guess in a way I do. I mean, everything that had happened in that room, if it weren't for him, I'd probably be much worse off. He definitely proved that he was a good person. It's just, I guess he was the core of the pain for so long, that it still kind of lingers you know?"

Alex nodded. "I get that. He was the one who orchestrated a lot of the crap that went on in TNA towards you."

"And the one who initially got Punk involved."

"True. But, you know he's extremely guilty about that all. Shame would be a word for it all. After you left, and when everyone was still on the edge about Jeff, he gave us this long speech before one of the shows. To sum it all up, shame. He's sorry."

"I know he is. I can tell."

Alex nodded.

"So…any other questions?"

Alex thought for a moment before a smirk found its way onto his face. "So, how physically ready are you for the ring?"

I raised an eyebrow. "Why do you ask?"

"I have an idea."

* * *

**A/N: yeah...got another update.**

**i was bored...and too lazy to actually edit chapters...so i wrote...i got a spurt of inspiration yesterday...so ur all lucky lol.**

**thinking about trying to update some of my other stories...but no promises as i have to write a poem, study for a math test, and write ISU notes...damn school lol. but be patient...it'll all come together soon enough lol.**

**till next time...**

**X. **


	97. Chapter Ninety Six

**Chapter Ninety-Six: **

"So where are we going?" I asked as I eyed Alex carefully.

"Uh…nowhere." He refused to look at me as he drove.

"I should have put up more of a fight for those keys." I rolled my eyes. "Because I have a really bad feeling of where you're going."

"No! Why would I go and do something mean like that?" A smirk grew on Alex's face, knowing exactly what I was referring to.

"I hate you." I groaned. "Please don't tell me your actually taking me to see them!"

"Uh…okay…. i wont."

"ALEX!"

"Don't scream woman! I'm driving. Sheesh!"

"I swear…when you stop this car, I'm castrating you." I threatened while crossing my arms and glaring at him.

"I'll make sure I never leave this seat then."

"I don't need you to stand up personally."

"Well that's not scary at all." He replied sarcastically.

"Yeah well…I really don't wanna go Alex. I already told you my reasoning."

"And I already told you that I think your more ready than you think." Alex stated. "Come on. It can't hurt can it? They miss you like crazy. And I mean like crazy. It'll hurt them even more if you just come and then go like that." Alex snapped his finger. "It'll be good for you too. To see them and all."

"I just…I cant right now. Tonight at least." I pleaded with him. "Please?"

Alex glanced over at me before sighing and nodding. "Fine…but tomorrow I'm so dragging your ass down to Florida so you can see them Tuesday."

"Well that's better than what I thought." I shrugged. "Okay…but new problem…I have no place to sleep."

"Didn't you think of that before you came here?"

"I'm more of a doer, than a thinker to be honest."

"Wow." He chuckled. "Well you can stay with me. Petey is off at Team CA's suite partying. So he wont be home."

"You sure that's okay? I don't want to oppose."

"Its fine. Gives me more a chance to be annoying."

"Oh joy."

* * *

"AJ…stop pacing…your going to make a hole in the floor…Styles…for the love of god STOP!" Raven yelled.

AJ stumbled from the yell and came back down from his previous thoughts.

"Don't yell Raven." Terry shook his head. "And sit down AJ."

"I cant. I cant just sit down knowing that she's somewhere in this city!" AJ exclaimed.

"You're being a bit melodramatic." Petey rolled his eyes.

"Why did she just leave like that?" AJ asked, ignoring Petey by giving him a glare.

"Because, maybe she was scared." Adam suggested. "I mean, personally, I wouldn't stick around too much if I were her."

"But she helped Jeff out. I don't get it." Jeff piped up.

"Yeah but considering everything, maybe she didn't want to stay long enough for Punk to try something. You heard his rampage throughout the arena." Ray concluded.

"We could have protected her." AJ grumbled, kicking at the ground.

"Possibly. But we couldn't before could we?" Raven said.

"Actually, I quite remember it just being you who couldn't." Alex shot at him angrily.

Raven raised an eyebrow. "Were you the one who saved her? No."

"You let her go in the first place!" AJ shouted at him.

"Okay guys, cool it." Tommy looked between the two. "Shouldn't we just be happy she's back?"

"Somewhat anyways." Terry said. "We don't know if that was a one time thing or not."

"She wouldn't just come and then go away again." Devon shook his head. "Would she?"

"Who knows." Jeff shrugged. "But I agree with Adam and Ray. She was scared."

"I want to see her." AJ flopped down into a spare chair.

Daniels shot him a glare. "You want to see her? I think everyone wants to see her just as much as you, so stop brooding will you?"

"Stop the fighting guys." Terry sighed.

"No, that guy has been a pain in the ass since day one. Just because you 'love her'. What about me? I got my fucking relationship with her screwed up because of that asshole Punk. I never got to tell her I loved her before she left. And here you are, brooding because you cant have Tess."

"Dude, news flash, you two are over. You were over the moment you cheated on her." AJ stood back up in a flash.

"I never cheated on her!"

"Likely story." AJ rolled his eyes.

"You saw the fucking tape Styles."

"I don't believe it one bit. You just want to get back in her pants."

"I love her damnit!"

"Yeah well, I love her too!" AJ screamed back.

The whole room fell into a silent shock as they gaped at AJ. AJ froze as he realized what he had just said. It was the first time he admitted it out loud. It was the first time he allowed for himself to feel those feelings.

"Y-you what?" Daniels too was shocked.

AJ looked around the room, his eyes wide. He didn't know what to say or do. It was like he was stuck, unable to move or speak. His words had stung not only Daniels, but also AJ himself. He had always known he cared for her, but to speak those words, it felt different to AJ.

"Well?" Daniels began to grow angry. "Speak asshole!"

"I-I ah…" AJ fumbled over his words.

"You little prick." Daniels tackled AJ to the ground. "You fucking asshole."

"Daniels, get a hold of yourself!" Ray and Devon immediately hurried over to pry the angry man off of AJ.

"Let me go!" Daniels struggled. "I want to kill him."

AJ slowly stood up, backing up as he did so. He was scared. He didn't know what to do.

"You were always trying to steal her from me weren't you." Daniels narrowed his eyes as he tried to fight out of Ray and Devon's grasps.

"N-no." AJ shook his head.

"Yes you were. You just couldn't take that she was with me."

AJ shook his head quickly as he continued to back up towards the door to the house.

"And now you're running away. Oh I'm so going to kill you!"

AJ's heart was pounding as he took another glance around the room. Everyone was frozen in their place minus the two men holding back Daniels. AJ tried to catch someone's eye, but everyone would just look away. It tore through him. He even tried to reach out to Petey for some kind of help, but Petey just pretended to pick imaginary dust off his jeans. Getting the hint, AJ spun around, opened the door, and left.

"AJ wait!" Terry stood up.

"Just let him go." Scott shook his head. "He needs to figure this out."

"I'll figure it out for him. I'll fucking smash his head in!" Daniels pulled Ray away from him.

"Do you really think Tess would want you to do that?" Jarrett's unexpected voice came from the other side of the room where he was thinking alone.

Daniels stopped immediately, and turned to glare at him.

"She wouldn't would she?" Jarrett pointed out.

"What do you know." Daniels snapped.

"I know that fighting wont get us anywhere. Tess came, helped me, and then left. That's it. Can we do anything? No. Will we see her again? Who knows. We cant live our lives waiting for her to come back. You can't go around trying to kill each other because of it." He pointed his last comment straight at Daniels.

"I can kill anyone I want to." Daniels stated defiantly.

"No Daniels, you cant." Terry shook his head.

Daniels looked at him shocked.

"So is everyone turning on me?"

"We're not turning on you kid. We're just trying to keep our alliance from falling apart." Terry reasoned.

"This is fucking unbelievable." Daniels growled before stomping towards the door.

"Where are you going?"

"Anywhere but here."

* * *

**A/N: so...i updated...not really much at all...but meh, something at least right?**

**been in a kind of crappy place the last few months, and between school, my new job, and all my problems, i had no interest in writing. tbh, i wasnt sure i would even write again. it was ruined by everything. but, i randomly got some kind of inspiration, and wanted to write again. well, i still dont have the time, but at least the want it back.**

**so yeah, dont expect another chapter for a bit...but im back...for now.**

**till next time,**

**X **


	98. Chapter Ninety Seven

**Chapter Ninety-Seven **

"I still don't know about this." I looked wearily at the building.

"Oh come on." Alex rolled his eyes. "You gotta do this sometime."

"I know…but still." I shrugged.

Alex crossed his arms and glared at me.

"I really don't have a choice do I?"

"No." he shook his head. "Though I'm sure you could kick my ass."

"True, but I'd rather keep that for Punk."

"Well then lets get this done." A grin formed on his face as he clapped his hands. "I'll be right back."

"Uh huh." I nodded, still a bit hesitant.

* * *

_ALEX POV_

Alex gave a small wave before shooting off into the building. It was Tuesday night, the night of Impact tapings. His mission was simple, find a camera crew. It was almost like Christmas day for Alex when he skidded to a stop, spotting Jeremy Borash getting ready to do one of his backstage segments.

"JB!" Alex shouted, working his way over to him quickly. "You about to go on?"

Jeremy Borash nodded.

"Look, sorry about this and all but…" Alex eyed the camera before the light flashed on. "Gotta take this JB." Alex shoved Borash out of the picture and turned to face the now on camera. "As I'm sure your all going to miss good old JB, I'll make this quick and short. You see, there are certain moments that define a man's life. I've personally have had many…long long nights of them too." Alex winked. "But tonight, tonight I have probably the biggest thing for not only myself, but for all of you, especially you Punk. Follow me."

Alex motioned for the camera to follow him as he walked towards the back door. He slid the door open, allowing for the cameraman to go through first. As he did, the camera began to focus on the turned Tess.

* * *

_REG POV_

I breathed in sharply as I heard the sound of feet approaching.

"This my friends, is something no one expected. I welcome to the world, the return, of Miss Tess McMahon."

Blinked for a moment before slowly turned, a smirk on my face. I watched as the camera came towards me further.

"Surprised to see me? I'm sure. Especially you Punk. Now I bet you didn't expect to see me in Detroit huh?" I snickered. "You thought you had run me off. Thought I was long gone. But nuh uh Punk, not even close. See, you may have won Round One. But last Sunday, you lost Round Two. I made you lose that precious title of yours, not that it was yours to begin with. I mean, did you really think, just because of what you did to me, that I would leave and not come back? I was already at the bottom of the pit. I was bruised, I was broken. But….there was that little nagging voice at the back of my head. I couldn't eat; I could sleep without thinking of you. That probably overly pleases you. Oh, but its because I couldn't think of anything else but exacting revenge on you dear Punk. I didn't come back because I had anything to prove…I came back because I want you to feel the same pain you caused me, the same pain you caused my family, and the same pain you caused my friends. See Punk, I'm back, and I'm read to kick your ass. And that's not a threat." I paused. "That's a damn promise."

Alex prodded the cameraman as he stopped filming.

"That went on live right?"

The cameraman nodded.

"Good. You can go now." Alex smirked.

The cameraman shot off quickly while I glanced up at Alex.

"So…how long do you think I have till…"

"TESS!!!!"

"…That." I sighed before I felt myself being pushed over by a large body. "Oomph!"

"Oh my god oh my god oh my god." Was all that came from AJ's mouth as he hugged me tightly.

"Uh…. AJ?" Alex raised an eyebrow.

"Just let it run its course." I couldn't help but chuckle.

"O…kay then." Alex nodded as he tapped his foot.

I paused for a moment. "Okay, how long?"

"60 seconds."

"Alrightie…AJ…. its good to see you too. Now can you let go?"

AJ just mumbled a few words as he continued to hold me tightly.

"Oh boy. AJ, get off the girl will you." Ray's voice came from above.

A lump rose in my throat as AJ was pulled off me by none other than Ray and Devon. I gave them a weak smile before slowly standing with the help of Alex and brushing myself off.

"Try not to plough her over this time." Devon patted AJ on the back a split second before he attached himself to me.

"Ugh! You could have held him back." I muttered.

"Sorry, but the guy missed you too much."

"Clearly…have you gained weight? Because you're heavier than I remembered."

"WHAT!" AJ pulled back. "Me? Gain weight? No!"

I laughed. "Well that certainly worked…. but now that I looked at you…"

"Hey! I didn't gain weight!" AJ pouted.

"I think he did. He was divulging in all those girlie comfort foods for the past few months." Ray commented.

"So mean." AJ crossed his arms.

"Aww, I'm sorry. You look perfectly fine." I smiled at him before wrapping my arms around his body. "It is good to see you gain."

AJ returned the hug. "Its been too long T."

"I know." I pulled back a little, glancing at Ray and Devon, and the whole group slowly making their way towards us. "I'm sorry about that. It just took awhile for…."

"You don't have to explain sweetie." Terry interrupted as he reached us. "We understand. We just wish you would have kept in contact."

"I know." I nodded. "I'm sorry. I really am."

"Why didn't you see us Sunday?" AJ asked.

I looked at him before bowing my head. "I-I don't know. I just wasn't ready."

"Why did you have to be ready? We're your friends. Its not like we're mad at you." Jeff pointed out.

"I know." I sighed, looking back up. "I just wasn't sure why I did what I did on Sunday. I was still trying to figure some stuff out."

"But you're here now."

"Alex kind of made me come to be honest."

"Always knew there was a use for you." Christian gave him a side-glance before walking over and putting an arm around my shoulder. "Well we're glad your back. AJ here I think seriously crapped his pants when he saw you on the TV."

"I did not."

"Uh huh." Terry hit him over the head. "What about when you ran out of the room like a lunatic?"

"Well…ah…." AJ trailed off.

Everyone laughed.

"I'm glad to see you guys again." I looked around at everyone. "Did our group grow?"

"Significantly. You've missed a lot." Terry grinned.

"Apparently. Hey Tommy." I spotted Tommy. "And…clearly I never realized we really were aligned with Team Canada."

"Have you been watching Impact at all?" Christian asked.

"Nope. Your lucky I actually knew where the PPV was." I shrugged.

"That we are." Ray nodded.

"So…I think we needa talk." I stated, eying a few particular members of the group standing at the back. "Like why the…. um…whatever their name are, and Joe, and well…everyone…is here."

"This could take awhile."

"Not planning on going anywhere anytime soon."

* * *

**A/N: if i told you where i got the idea for this...i'm sure u all would be throwing something at me lol...**

**surprisingly, this didn't take forever...dunno why...like i said...just randomly got the idea.**

**but yeah...i have major ideas for the story...yay for me! lol. but yeah. oh...and...i might randomly put some new stuff into this fic...i'm not too into TNA as of late, and more into ROH (well duh lol), and PWG...so u may see traces of that somewhere...cuz well...i refuse to now do a fic without Scott Lost in it...don't know him? oh well...u gotta look him up...he's only like my hero lol. but anyways...getting back out of that...so expect to see some new stuff...some old stuff...some completely crazy and random stuff...lol**

**in case i don't update before hand...Happy Christmas everyone :D**

**until next time...**

**X. **


	99. Chapter Ninety Eight

**Chapter Ninety Eight:**

"This place looks exactly the same." I grinned as I plopped down onto the familiar couch in my former home.

"Well, to be honest, we never were ones to decorate." Jeff pointed out.

"True." I agreed as pulled myself into a sitting position. "I don't know though, I think the place needs something."

"How about a certain female moving back in?" Jay raised an eyebrow as he stumbled into the room, pulling my large bag behind him.

"Having trouble?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Not at all." He replied sarcastically.

"Oh well, as long as you're good."

"I take it back, lets not have you move back in." Jay grumbled, finally just pushing the bag to the ground so he could close the door.

"Well fine then," I stood up. "I'll just leave then."

"No!" Jeff jumped over the coffee table and tackled me back onto the couch.

"Oomph! HARDY!"

"Sorry." Jeff gave me a toothy grin.

"I was just kidding, sheesh." I pushed the rainbow hair colored man off of me.

"Oh." Jeff's cheek burned a deep red. "I knew that."

"Uh huh." I laughed as Jay and I shared an eye roll.

"Whatever." Jeff jumped off the couch. "I'm getting something to eat, I'm starving."

"We just all went out to eat." I stated. "How can you still be hungry?"

"Because I'm a growing man."

"Technically I don't think your growing anymore." Jay commented.

"Shut up." Jeff threw him a glare. "Want anything?"

"Sure. Give me two of whatever you're having." Jay shrugged.

I chuckled. "Men."

"We're cool, I know." Jay grinned as he fell into the chair across from the couch. "I'm exhausted."

"Hungry and exhausted." I raised an eyebrow. "You haven't changed one bit."

Jay stuck his tongue out at me.

"So mature."

"I know." He replied.

"Oh wow." I rolled my eyes. "Well speaking of exhaustion, I think I'm going to hit the sack. Same bedroom?"

"Yep." Jeff called from the kitchen. "Everything's the same in there."

"He was too scared to touch a thing to be honest." Jay stated smugly.

"Shut up asshole."

I couldn't help but laugh as I dragged myself off the couch. "See you boys in the morning."

"Aren't you going to take your stuff?" Jay asked as she began walking into the hallway.

"I'm lazy, I'll wait till I can get someone to do it for me."

"You'll be waiting for awhile." Jay called.

"I'll just get AJ to do it." She popped her head around the wall. "You know he'd do it in a heartbeat.

"Too true." Jay rolled his eyes. "Night Tess."

* * *

_RING RING_

"Go away." I grumbled.

As much as I wished my words would just suddenly disrupt the rings protruding from my cell phone on the nightstand, it didn't. Curses were grumbled as I turned over, one eye slowly opening as I peeked at the clock. I groaned as I rolled back onto my back. 6 am. Who in the world would be calling me at 6 in the morning? It was a ridiculous time to even begin with. Who in their right mind would be up this early?

Unfortunately, the ringing never stopped, and in fact, I swear it had begun to grow louder. For whatever reason, I began to grow annoyed and finally rolled back onto my side and picked up the small annoying technology.

"What?" I snapped as I finally flipped it open, not wasting time to see who was calling.

"Good morning to you too." The all too familiar voice of Christopher Daniels came from the other end.

All previous tiredness instantly was wiped away as I shot up in my bed, completely not expecting to hear his voice.

"Tess?"

"Oh uh…hi." I replied timidly, running a hand through my long tangled hair.

"Thought you fell out of bed for a second."

"Almost." My eyes fought to get adjusted to the dark room. "Is there a specific reason I'm being woken up at 6 in the morning?"

"Just thought I'd say hi." He admitted.

"That could have waited until noon." I sighed as I slowly rubbed the sleep from my eyes and lay back down on my pillow. I fought back a yawn as my mind went in circles.

I couldn't fully understand why Chris of all people was calling. I probably shouldn't have been surprised actually. We were almost okay before everything happened. Almost.

"Its nice to see you back." Chris broke the moment of silence.

"Yeah." I didn't know what else to say.

"So uh…" Chris seemed caught up in his words.

"How have you been?" I spewed out.

Chris, sounding relieved, sighed. "Not all that great."

"Oh?"

"Well what would you expect?" Daniels sighed again. "Our whole relationship was flushed down the toilet because of what happened with Danger. Then when I finally get myself not looking like the bad guy, you get ripped from me. I've been miserable for the past few months Tess."

I wasn't sure what to say. How do you respond to something like that?

"I'm sorry. I've just been frustrated lately." I could just imagine his running a hand over his head. "How have you been?"

"Minus the last 48 hours, I wouldn't exactly say I've been great either." I retorted. "It was hard. I'm still not over everything."

"Understandable."

"Yeah." I mumbled. "So is this the only reason you called, to have an early morning awkward conversation with your ex girlfriend?"

"Didn't think it would be this hard to talk to you. Clearly you haven't changed."

"Well what fun would that be." I rolled my eyes. "Look, I get why you were miserable, but to be honest, I don't feel all that sorry for you. Considering what I've been through, your problems are insignificant in my eyes. No offence or anything."

"I'm starting to think calling you was a mistake."

"I could have told you that."

"Whatever. I'm not going to just sit here and take your attitude."

"Good."

"Fine."

Before my mind could fully wrap around the stupidity that just came from my mouth, Chris hanged up, ending the useless conversation.

"Oh yeah, that's smart Tess." I grumbled to my self as I let my phone fall onto my bed. "Great way to come back."

* * *

**A/N: What! did i just update? lol**

**I was inspired by iunno what, so i wrote. i'm actually getting excited about this story again. speaking of which, sorry for not updating. life's been crazy with Uni offers, exams thankfully are over, but 2nd sem is starting, life in general, etc. but i'm starting to get things back in order thankfully**

**oh, and on a totally unrelated note...i'm turning 18 wednesday :). and on a somewhat related note...i met Christopher Daniels today :) omg...he's hotter in real life...he's so getting a huger role in this story now just for that lol...also met Claudio randomly when he came to see the Joe vs Daniels match...it was awesome.**

**anyways...so...Tess is definitely back...living with this guys again...hm...tho her and Chris arent exactly getting off to a good start eh?**

**well, until next time,**

**X **


	100. Chapter Ninety Nine

**Ninety-Nine:**

"So I'm totally an idiot." I stated out loud as I twirled my spoon in my bowl full of cereal floating in milk.

"Well I could have told you that one Tessy." Jay plopped down on the stool beside me.

"Funny." I pushed at him shoulder. "No but seriously, I'm an idiot."

"What'd you do this time?" Jeff asked, leaning against the counter, his hand holding his toast hanging in mid air.

I swallowed my food before frowning. "Chris called this morning."

"Go on."

I rolled my eyes at the fake look on Jay's face before continuing.

"I kind of gave him a little bit of a bitchy attitude." I admitted.

"Great job Tess." Jay slapped me on the back, making me cough.

"Shut up." I glared at him. "He didn't exactly help either."

"Well why was he calling?" Jeff asked.

"I don't know." I grumbled, pushing my bowl away from me. "I'm an idiot though. I really should have been a little nicer."

"You can't really blame yourself though." Jeff stated. "I mean, things didn't exactly go nicely before everything happened. You're allowed to be a little annoyed or whatever. And it is your first night back. He kind of just bombarded you right away. He should have waited."

"Well at least someone is on my side."

"But," he stopped me. "He's also been going through some really tough times lately. That guy still loves you Tess, he never stopped. So to see you back, the guy clearly is going through a lot of emotions. I know its all been hard on you, but you have to look at his perspective too."

"Ugh, Mr. Rational is gay." I groaned.

"Well his hair is a rainbow, would explain everything." Jay stated.

"You're the idiot to be honest." Jeff glared at him.

I rolled my eyes at the two. "So what am I supposed to do."

"Well, he's more than likely training right now." Jeff looked down at his watch. "The guy has yet to break that habit."

"Yeah, so?"

"Go see him." He stated simple.

"Ah, why?" I raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"Well stupid," Jay slapped me over the head. "You clearly need to talk to the guy. He's probably heart broken."

"I don't know."

"Come on. Might as well get it out of the way now." Jeff pointed out.

"I guess." I frowned.

"Go." Jeff persisted.

"Ugh." I let my head fall onto the counter beside my bowl. "Fine."

* * *

I eyed Chris carefully as I stood by the front of the gym. I had been here for at least 20 minutes now, unable to grow enough nerves to walk over to where he was in the Ring. He was training with his partners Elix Skipper and Low Ki. I felt the need to just watch him, the memories of our training sessions teetering on the edge. If I closed my eyes, I surely would be able to see that day we kissed playing on my closed eyelids. A small smile found its way onto my face as I remembered the sweet taste of his lips on mine. The memory was almost overwhelming. I felt like I could just melt into that daydream, living through that fairytale.

But that realization hit me hard. I couldn't live out the perfect fairytale. It was impossible. I just had to realize that. No matter how hard it was.

I sighed as I put my attention back on Chris. He and the other two seemed to be taking a break, Ki and Elix both exiting the ring and heading towards the men's locker room. Chris however remained in the ring. He just stood there in the middle, a hand running up and down the back of his neck, his thoughts probably running a mile a minute. I inhaled sharply as I knew this was probably my best chance to talk to him.

I slowly began walking to the ring, carefully not to put any attention on myself. Thankfully I was able to make it to the apron without Chris acknowledging my existence. I tried to figure out what to say, trying to find a logical greeting. But no words would come out. I was completely speechless. In fact, I was regretting ever coming into the gym. What was I thinking? Did I really think I could just waltz in here and expect to be able to talk to him like anyone else? But I had to. It was hard, but I had to. I couldn't just ruin the last inch of our previous relationship we had left. We may never get back together, but I still wanted to know that there had been a chance that we could have been friends. Anything. I had to face the music. I had to at least try.

"Thinking so hard may begin to destroy some brain cells." I let my mouth spurt out.

I mentally hit myself at the beyond idiotic sentence that just left my lips. I felt like turning around and running out as quickly as I could, not looking back. But before I could, Chris turned, a shocked expression on his face as he saw me. The look quickly turned to a frown though, as his eyes narrowed and he just turned and walked to the other side of the ring. I sighed heavily at his stubbornness before following him as he left the ring and headed towards his bag on a bench at the side.

"Chris." I tried to stop him.

He ignored me however and just grabbed his bag and went to head towards the locker room. I quickly jogged the distance between us before grabbing his arm and making him turn around.

"Look Chris, I came here to apologize."

His eyes fell on mine, the frown still plastered on his lips.

"I was rude and kind of bitchy on the phone." I admitted, my cheeks beginning to grow red. "It was just early and…"

"Early? It was just early? Just because it was early in the morning, doesn't give you an excuse as to why you can give me an attitude and expect me not to be mad." Chris stated angrily.

"Will you let me finish my sentence?" I gave him a look. "I was going to say I was just early and too soon to talk to you."

He looked as if he wanted to say something but I held up a hand and stopped him.

"I just got back here Chris. I finally had enough guts to face this place again. The last thing I really had on my mind for my first few days was to get into a disagreement with you. I wasn't ready to see you, or hear from you. I…I missed you. I hated how everything went down between us. We never really got a chance to work things out. I hate that. I hate that we could fix what we had. But…I just don't know what I'm feeling. In one way I hate you. I know you didn't do anything wrong, but it still hurts. But on the other hand, standing here in front of you, I just can help but feel like there's a lump in my throat because I don't know what to say to the guy I still kind of love. It's hard. I…I didn't want to have to figure this out yet."

Chris seemed speechless as he watched my head bow.

"I didn't mean to be so uncaring on the phone. I do care that you had a hard time. I get that. I was just…caught off guard by you phoning. You should know by now I usually do and then thing about my actions later." My voice began to grow to just above a whisper. "I'm really sorry."

I heard Chris drop his bags before he hooked a finger under my chin and lifted it up so he could look me in the eye.

"I shouldn't have called you this morning. I've been kicking myself all morning. It was too soon. I knew. I was just so excited to see you back. I didn't think. I wanted to hear your voice. I shouldn't have. I should have known it would have been too soon for you. I'm not exactly the most logical one you know."

I couldn't help but let out a small smile. "That's a total lie."

"True." He smiled as well. "I'm sorry. I guess I was just so caught up in myself that I never really thought about you. And I should have."

"Guess we both kind of mucked up huh?"

"Yeah." The familiar heart-stopping smile formed on his lips. "So you still kind of love me?"

My cheeks grew red. "No…"

"Uh huh." He moved closer.

"Yeah." I began to feel nervous at how close he was becoming.

"You sure about that?" his hand trailed up and cupped my cheek.

"Not really." I admitted.

"Good." His head began to grow lower.

"Chris…we probably shouldn't…" I mumbled quietly.

"Your right." He hesitated. "But I don't really care."

I gave him a startled look before he kissed me on the lips, applying force. I didn't even try and stop him as I allowed all the passion I had held up for months out.

"Reunion or what?" The annoying voice of Alex broke our kiss.

I growled in frustration as Chris and I parted. I sent a glare at Alex as I watched him give us a smug look.

"What do you want Alex?" Chris sighed in annoyance.

"Just wanted to say hi to the two love birds." He smirked. "And to say that you may want to be careful who you're kissing in front of."

I raised an eyebrow at him.

"Mr. Styles is sending rather dirty looks this way. I don't think he's throwing them at no one." Alex pointed out, nodding across the gym. "That and I do like gaining information to put myself ahead."

"That's creepy Alex." I shot a look at him before glancing over at AJ.

As soon as my eyes locked with his, he looked away, as if he wanted to pretend that he wasn't doing anything wrong. Chris sighed as he ran a hand over his head.

"Why is was he looking at us like that?" I asked, confused at the looks.

Alex gave Chris a confused stare. Chris in reply shrugged.

"She doesn't exactly know much about that." Chris stated.

"Know about what?" I asked, interested.

"Nothing." Chris shook his head.

"I'm confused."

"That's okay." Alex snickered.

"So your really not going to tell me what's up?"

"Are you going to tell me what you wish you were doing with Mr. Daniels right now?" Alex raised an eyebrow cockily.

My eyes grew wide as my whole face grew red.

"I'd like to know actually." Chris snaked an arm around my waist and brought me closer.

"Haha, no." I shook my head, clearly embarrassed.

"Well I'll just leave you two to your own devices." Alex winked at the two of us. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do."

I gave him the finger before sneaking a glance back over at AJ. However, he was already gone. My mind was going in circles trying to figure out what was going on. Though, I wasn't sure how much I really wanted to know this early into my return back in Orlando.

* * *

**A/N: i updated :) yay! lol. hasnt been too too long. ive actually have been getting some inspiration while at in the caf during my spares, so ive been able to write.**

**ooo Tess and Chris, so cute :) but hm...AJ still clearly likes her...wonder how this will all work out...and...i couldnt resist putting Alex in this :)**

**till next time...**

**X. **


	101. Chapter One Hundred

**Chapter One Hundred:**

A smile adorned my lips as I opened my door to the apartment, my mind completely somewhere else. My thoughts roamed the day's actions, my smile growing bigger. All Chris and I did was talk, but that's all we needed. We worked out our past, worked out our present, and I was happy to say I actually think there might be a future. And now I was overly read to just have a nice quiet evening at home, letting everything just sink in. However, as I stepped into the apartment, my hopeful wished were flushed down the toilet as I saw a large sum of my friends sitting in the living room, chatting it up. I groaned, turning all their attention on me as I closed the door and looked around at everyone. Jay immediately grew a smirk as he turned on the couch towards me.

"So, what happened with you and Chris?" he asked, wiggling his eyebrows at me.

I shot him a glare. "Nothing."

"Oh come on, details." Jay pestered.

"Oh leave the girl alone Jay." Terry leaned forward and slapped Jay over the head.

"But this is too much fun."

"Yeah, no." I rolled my eyes at him. "So, what is everyone doing here?"

"Chillin." Jeff answered. "So did everything go alright?"

"Yes." I answered simply. "Speaking of which, AJ."

"What?" AJ looked up at his name being called.

"We need to talk." I stated, walking over to where he was sitting on the back of the couch.

"What about?"

"Stuff."

"But we're already talking." He nodded at the group.

I raised an eyebrow at the southern man before grabbing his arm and began dragging him towards my room.

"What did I do?" he asked innocently as I pushed him into the enclosed room.

I closed the door and instantly crossed my arms.

"What was up today?"

"What do you mean?" he asked, glancing around the room. "Nice room."

"AJ." I glared at him. "You know what I'm talking about."

"I really don't." he shrugged, stuffing his hands into his jean pockets.

"Today, at the gym, the dirty looks at me and Chris." I raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, that." He laughed nervously. "That wasn't directed at you. Just Chris."

"Oh, well that makes it so much better." I replied sarcastically.

"That's good."

"AJ! What's up with you?"

"I don't like the guy." He stated simple. "No law against that is there?"

"No, but come on AJ, that's kind of childish."

"My choice to like him or not. I don't have to approve of who you sleep around with."

"Whoa AJ, that's a bit low." I frowned.

"I'm sorry, but it's the truth. I've never liked the guy. Even before you came into the picture. We've always been rivals. Nothing is going to change that." AJ paused. "That and he don't deserve you."

"What do you mean he doesn't deserve me?"

"He isn't right for you."

"And how do you come to that conclusion?"

"He's an asshole clearly." AJ shrugged. "That, and he just doesn't care for you the way he should. I mean look what he did with Danger."

"He didn't do anything wrong AJ." I sighed. "You were there were you not? He didn't do anything wrong."

"I was also there when you came running from his locker room. I remember that look, I remember those tears. I was the one who held you and made everything okay."

"Actually technically, that wasn't all you." I pointed out. "That was everyone together."

"Whatever." He shrugged. "He still hurt you."

"And I forgive him. You should too." I shook my head and sighed.

"Not going to happen. I wont give him the satisfaction."

"What the hell is your problem AJ?"

"I don't appreciate having to see my best friend make out with my least favourite person in the world."

"I did it before."

"It was different back then."

"How?"

"It just was."

"How AJ?"

"Look, all you need to know is that he doesn't care about you like some people." AJ turned.

"He cares about me a lot." I argued.

"He doesn't…he doesn't love you like he should."

"And how doesn't he love me?"

"He…" AJ paused. "He just doesn't okay!"

"AJ, come on, just tell me for god sakes."

"Fine." AJ turned. "He doesn't love you like I do."

I was completely taken back by his comment. The wheels in my head completely stopped turned as I turned numb.

AJ meanwhile breathed heavily. "He doesn't care like I do." He mumbled.

"AJ…"

"He doesn't Tess." AJ walked towards me, putting a hand on my shoulder. "He doesn't know how great you are. You deserve to be treated better."

"AJ…" I wasn't sure how to tell him what I had to. "I love you like a friend, a brother, but…"

"I love you Tess. I've always been there for you. More than he has. We've been through so much." He seemed to almost be begging.

"AJ I just don't feel that way about you. I'm sorry." I bowed my head. "I love Chris."

AJ took a step back as my words stung him. I snuck a glance at him and saw that sweet expression turn to that of anger.

"Look AJ I'm sorry. Its just that…"

"No." he shook his head, "you don't have to explain. I'm the one not good enough."

"That's not it AJ…"

But before I could try and make him understand, he pushed me out of the way and stormed out of the room. I followed him out into the hall, trying to catch up to his quick pace.

"AJ come on, I'm sorry." I pleaded with his back. "I'm sorry."

"Whatever." He grabbed his coat from the pile at the front door and opened the door.

"AJ!"

AJ just simple left the apartment, slamming the door behind him. I sighed before remembering everyone who was watching our little scene. I turned towards them, and all of their heads turned back around, as if trying to pretend they weren't listening in.

"You all knew he loved me didn't you?" I asked them truthfully.

They all nodded slowly. I growled and muttered a curse before stomping myself back into my room, slamming the door shut behind me.

"Ah, and the Drama begins."

* * *

**A/N: 100 Chapters!!!!!! woot! cant believe i've made it this far. never thought i would actually get to this point.**

**so its the big one...AJ told Tess how he felt. and she loves Chris...poor AJ.**

**so on the good side, during Calculus class when i should have been doing work, i worked out the next 10 or so chapters. how awesome am i.**

**anyways, until next time.**

**X. **


	102. Chapter One Hundred and One

**Chapter One Hundred and One:**

"I cant believe he's acting like such an asshole." I grumbled, kicking at the wall.

Alex raised an eyebrow. "You can't completely blame the guy T."

I sent him a glare.

"Hey, just saying." He held up his hands in defence before falling short on the spot. "But hey, have you tried talking to him?"

"Multiple times." I sighed, running a hand through my hair. "He's just blocked my calls or ignored me. I understand he might be hurt, but don't you think he's overreacting a little bit."

"AJ poured his heart out to you and you rejected the guy. To be honest, I think you just need to give him some time." Alex shot a careful look at me.

"Thanks for the backup." I glared.

"Hey, you know I'm behind you. It's just; put yourself in his position for a moment. How would you like it if…say Chris for example, rejected you?"

"I probably would act the same way." I grumbled, crossing my arms over my chest.

"Sorry, what was that?" Alex smirked.

"Okay I get it." I glared at him. "He has a reason to be acting like this. But don't I at least deserve a chance to explain myself?"

"Yes, you do. But he also deserves time." He pointed out.

"Ugh." I groaned. "How did you become so wise?"

"I've always been wise." Alex replied smugly. "Now stop your pouting and get a move on it. We were supposed to be at the locker room ages ago."

I groaned but fell into step with him nonetheless.

"So have you talked with Jarrett yet?" Alex questioned as we turned a corner.

"Haven't really had the chance. I've been spending all my free time either with Chris trying to patch up our relationship or trying to get AJ to talk to me." I scratched the back of my head. "I probably should see him today though."

"Probably." Alex agreed. "Though speaking of you and lover boy, how's that going?"

"What, me and Chris? Alright I suppose." I couldn't help but stop the smile forming on my lips. "Actually, its going amazing."

"Well you look happy. That's always a good thing."

I rolled my eyes. "You're getting sentimental."

"Ew, definitely not my intended result." Alex scrunched up his nose. "Quick, get inside before you turn me emotional too."

"Only you Alex Shelley." I shook my head with a laugh before realizing we had stopped in front of the all too familiar locker room. "It feels like forever since I've been in here."

"It has been forever." Terry commented as the door opened as his head popped out. "Are you two just going to stand there all night or are you going to grace us with your presence?"

"We're coming, we're coming." Alex rolled his eyes.

I chuckled as I playfully punched his arm before slipping into the room. I was surprised to find it practically empty, minus Terry and Team Canada.

"Where is everyone?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Running late apparently." Terry shrugged with a smile. "You know how they are."

"I was looking forward to a big party too." I pouted.

"Your not that special." Alex smirked.

"Hey! I am so!"

"Not really."

"Mean."

"Just the truth."

"Gay."

"I am not gay."

"How come you haven't fucked any girls lately then?"

"Okay that's just mean."

"Just the truth."

"Gay."

"Okay okay, stop the cycle." Scott D'Amore stood, holding up his hands to make us stop.

"Oh come on Scotty, we're only having fun." Alex walked over and plopped down onto the bench beside Eric Young. "What's up buddy?"

Eric shrugged.

"Where's Traci at?"

"Women's locker room." Eric's face turned into a grin.

I chuckled at the lovesick look on his face. It was sort of amusing. But I couldn't really say anything, considering half the time that was my face.

"So when's this meeting going to take place." Alex moved his camera into his lap, flicking through whatever material was on it.

"Whenever everyone gets here." Scott answered.

"What am I supposed to do till then?"

"Stop complaining comes to mind." I slapped him over the head as I slid down between him and Petey. "So…Petey…"

"I don't know a thing." He held up his hands in defence. "AJ is ignoring me as well."

My shoulders slumped.

"Don't worry, he'll come around." Petey shot me a sympathetic smile. "He's just hard headed and stubborn."

"Tell me about it." I sighed.

"Is AJ still being distant?" Terry questioned.

"Unfortunately yes." I grumbled.

"But he'll come around." Petey stayed positive.

"Way to be positive Pete." Alex smirked.

"Shut up Alex" Petey rolled his eyes.

"Well that's a bit rude."

"I know, but its you, so no love loss."

"Ouch, that hurts."

"I need more female friends." I groaned.

* * *

"Hey." Chris greeted as he opened the door and spotted me.

"Hey." I pushed my way into the empty locker room. "I need you to save me from the idiotness of Alex and Petey."

Chris laughed as he caught me around the waist and brought me closer. "My pleasure."

I chuckled as he bowed his head and kissed the skin right below my ear.

"So have anything interesting planned tonight?" he asked, lifting his face so he could look me in the eye.

"Kicking ass, taking names…preferably sleeping." I tapped my chin. "Hanging out with an incredibly hot boyfriend."

"Hm…should I be jealous?"

"Oh most definitely." I grinned, wrapping my arms around his neck as I lifted myself up on the tips of my toes. "He's an incredibly forgiving man."

"Sounds like a nice guy."

"Oh he's fantastic. And did I mention hot?" our faces moved closer together.

"You may have." His lips brushed mine.

I went to end our little game when the door smashed in, ending the moment. Chris growled as we parted.

"What is it Elix?"

Elix glanced over at me with a worried expression. "Word got out, and now Punk's furious."

"Crap." Chris stiffened.

I looked between the two.

"What? Word got out about what?"

Chris looked at me, a worried look in his eyes. "That you're here."

"Oh." I shrugged. "Is that all? Nothing new."

He shot me an incredulous look.

"What? Like we all didn't see this coming. The guy has anger management, course he's furious. He's going to be even more so after I'm through with him tonight."

"What's that supposed to mean." Chris turned, ignoring Elix as he began getting ready for his match.

"What?"

"What are you planning on doing?' Chris' dark eyes narrowed.

"Just a little of this, a little of that." I waved off. "No big deal."

"I don't want you to do anything stupid Tess."

"You didn't expect me to just sit back once I got back did you?"

"Well I didn't think you'd go straight into idiot mode."

I sighed. I saw this one coming. After all, it is Christopher Daniels. He can be a bastard when he wanted to. But after being in a relationship with the man, you learn he can become overly protective. And not in a good way.

"Can we not do this right now Chris?"

"When are we going to do this then? When your in the hospital?"

I scowled. "Lets just leave it alone alright?"

He shook his head. "I'm not going to just let you go do something stupid out of revenge and get seriously injured."

"I'm not going to get injured Chris!" I stepped back from him.

"How many times have I heard that one?"

"Stop being over protective. I'm a big girl, I can take care of myself."

"The only reason I'm acting like this is because I care about you."

"You know I hate when you're like this!"

"I'm sorry I care for you! Would you like it if I just didn't care?"

"You know I don't mean it like that Chris."

"Well then tell me what the hell you want Tess! I can't keep doing this guessing game. The last two weeks I haven't known what the hell to do. One day your all happy and the next your giving me attitude. What? What is it? Is it AJ? Because I'm tired of that asshole getting in between everything!" Chris's voice was rising at an alarming rate.

"Why is it that you always blame AJ for everything?" I shot back, just as angry.

"Because that's all you've been moping about!"

"He has nothing to do with this." I pointed between us. "He doesn't have anything to do with you being overprotective!"

"Do you just want me to stop caring for you? Do you want that? Because I can easily stop."

"You're just being an idiot now." I growled.

"Well then what the fuck do you want Tess!"

"I want you to back off!"

"Well then maybe you shouldn't have gotten back together with me. You know I'm like this."

"Well maybe your right." My eyes narrowed.

"Great!"

"Fine!"

"Whatever!"

"Goodbye!"

With that, I turned on the spot and stormed from the room, making sure to slam the door on my way out.

"Way to go dude, wreck that relationship." Elix rolled his eyes from the side.

Chris just glared at him before turning and storming to the bathroom.

* * *

**A/N: yeps, thats right...i actually updated. surprise surprise! its been quite awhile hasnt it? i apologize for that. what with exams/graduation coming up very quickly, and this year in all just being crazily hectic, i havent had much time to even think about this story at all. however, i recently got back into this story thanks to a very long 5 hours drive back from UWindsor. so expect this to hopefully be updated more frequently. for now, enjoy :)  
**


	103. Chapter One Hundred and Two

**Chapter 102**

"Stupid arrogant, asshole." I muttered. "Lets get all mad over nothing."

"Okay, talking to yourself is the first sign of insanity."

I jumped. Yes, I literally lifted up off the ground in fright.

"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you."

"I hate you Petey." I turned to glare at the Canadian.

"Sure sure." He smirked.

"What do you want." I continued to glare at him as he snickered.

"Was just heading to the tunnel." He shrugged. "Should you be walking around here alone?"

"Oh please." I rolled my eyes. "I don't need everyone getting into over protective mode. I _can_ take care of myself."

Petey raised an eyebrow at me.

"Oh now your sounding like Chris." I growled.

"Something happen in lover land?" he guessed.

"He's just being…"

"A good, caring boyfriend perhaps?"

"Oh shut up Petey, what do you know."

The brunette laughed. "You can't blame the guy for being a little protective. I mean, considering everything, he has a right to be. He just cares. Don't hate him for just being a good guy."

I shrugged, not wanting to admit that he may possibly have a point.

"Anyways, I should go, have a match and all."

"Good luck." I gave him a small forced smile.

"The Canadian Destroyer doesn't need luck." He flexed his muscles.

"The Canadian Destroyer needs to cut back on the ego."

He pouted before patting me on the shoulder and heading past me. I couldn't help but chuckle as I watched him walk off. It still felt surreal that 6 months or so ago that man was one of my enemies, and now he was a close friend. But then again, the last few months had changed everything about my life. Not that I was complaining. Too much that is. I still had Chris to deal with.

Sure, I shouldn't be angry with him, he was just caring. And he rightfully should. Petey was right. Considering everything in the past year, Chris had a reason to worry. In a way, I loved it. I liked the idea of having him there to protect me from anything ready to fly my way. He was my shield. He was my protector.

But since the last time I was here, I had grown something I had lost previously. Faith and determination. I wasn't going to let the previous incidents happen to me again. That was all in the past. At the moment, I was solely concerned on getting Punk out of my life and starting off a new one with the people I cared about. However, how was I supposed to do that with an overprotective boyfriend looming about?

Oh my head hurt just from thinking about it. Why must I think so hard? Actually, I shouldn't be thinking about this at all. I had much more important things to do. Such as talk to Jarrett. Not that it was something I really wanted to do. Nope. I'm pretty sure I would be fine in just avoiding the guy. However, I knew that wouldn't happen. Considering the fact that I do owe an explanation to the guy.

How I was going to find him I had no idea. Where would the guy be? Sure he was heavyweight champion, but considering everything, he wouldn't have a room to himself. That was too dangerous back here. Almost as dangerous as walking around backstage alone.

"Thinking too hard?"

What is it with people and scaring the hell out of me?

"I swear to god, the next person who does that I'm going to…oh."

My face flushed as I turned and stared into the bright blue eyes of Jeff Jarrett. Well that certainly wasn't what I had expected. Congrats Tess, completely embarrass yourself. Good job.

"Are you cursing yourself?" his eyebrows furrowed together, more than likely confused by my behaviour.

"Possibly." I replied weakly.

He nodded in an unsure manner.

"H-how have you been?" I crossed my arms, trying to figure out what to say next.

Jarrett must have been in the same circumstance as he stuffed his hands into his jean pockets.

"I've been better."

I frowned as we grew silent. Fantastic. We're finally in the same place at the same time, and I cant even think of anything to say to him. Great.

"Why did you come back?"

"Hm?" I looked up, not even realizing I had been gazing down at my sneakers.

He sighed before running a hand through his curly blonde hair. "Why did you come back?"

I stared up at him. It was one of those questions that while it should have been asked, no one had voiced the question out loud.

There were so many reasons leading me to just quit TNA. After all, I was 'kidnapped', locked in a room, and tortured for god knows how long. Not to mention I went to hell and back even before Punk came on the scene. Lord knows the man before me knew how much I had gone through. So why had I come back? Why didn't I just quit and go right along and wrestle for my families company? Or any other company for that matter

I'm not sure I really had an answer to that. How could I? So many factors were leading against me here, and yet I came back. Was it my friends? They were a large part of my life. They had been with me through thick and thin. A part of me always felt guilty for not keeping in contact with them while I was away. I knew I had to come back, even for a little while for them. But what else was keeping me here? Sure I had Chris, but that was on the rocks already. I had just found out that my best friend loves me and is now on the verge of never speaking to me again after I rejected him. Punk was still after my blood. So why was I here? What had I come back?

"That wasn't meant to be a hard question." Jarrett broke my thoughts.

"Oh." I bit my nail. "Sorry."

He shook his head. "That probably wasn't the greatest question to ask."

"No, it's fine. I'm just in a very thinkative state at the moment."

"I'm not exactly sure that's a word."

"Probably not." I couldn't help but chuckle, feeling all the tension in the air disappear.

"I don't think I've thanked you for what happened at the PPV." A smile tugged at his lips, something I hadn't seen on his face in quite some time.

I waved it off. "It was nothing."

He raised an eyebrow. "I wouldn't exactly say helping someone win a title is nothing."

"To be honest, I just wanted to kick his ass."

"Of course." He rolled his eyes. "Always wanting to do things for yourself."

"I'm not one to think of others at all."

He snickered. "But thank you, as much as you may not have cared, I do appreciate it nonetheless."

"Well I'm just glad a true champion has that belt around his waist. God knows those fans don't need Punk as champ." I rolled my eyes. "What a role model huh."

"I'm not much better myself." he pointed out.

"Oh no, your one hundred times better. I know that first hand." I smiled.

His eyes bore into my own for a moment before he averted his gaze. My smiled grew knowingly as I tapped my foot.

"So…I was thinking about an excellent plan to take our least favourite person down. Unfortunately, I'm not exactly brilliant at perfecting those. I could use some help if you were up to it? Of course I could understand if you didn't want to get revenge on the guy. Just a thought…" I was never one to beat around the bush.

He raised an eyebrow. "Blunt."

"I try." I shrugged. "So, interested?"

He cocked his head to the side, his blue eyes sparkling mischievously. "Very."

"Excellent." I smirked widely.

"So what do you have in mind?"

"Well I was thinking…"

* * *

**A/N: Yeah, thats right, i'm back! well, for the moment. i know its slightly short, but hey, its something. i had a much different version of this that was a little more bleh, so i rewrote it the other day (and totally forgot about it till right now lol). its a bit lighter than i originally wrote it, but i think the dramatic story needs a bit of lightness to it...if that makes sense lol.**

**Oh, and just because i'm still excited from ROH in TO on friday, i'm now officially putting ROH into this story...somehow...i think i had that in my plans originally, but it really is in now. OMG, just randomness right here but...ROH is amazing. you have to check it out. the show i was at was off the wall. everyone was fantastic. and yeah, Roderick Strong Sexy...just yeah...wow...hotness right there lol. ahem...anyways... (oh and speaking of which, all my ROH stories are going to be updated soon thanks to the show...and a new Story featuring everyone's favorite Jimmy Jacobs and the Age Of The fall should be coming shortly!)  
**

**till next time.**

**X**


	104. Chapter One Hundred and Three

**Chapter 103:**

"I have no idea what's going on between you two, but I doubt Stalking him is going to help."

I jumped as the southern accent broke my train of thought. Thought, not stalking. I was absolutely not stalking AJ Styles. That would just be crazy. And I was not crazy. No. I just happened to be standing here, at this corner, and he just happened to be around said corner talking with Jay. There's nothing wrong with being a little curious as to what they were talking about. I wasn't a cat, so I was perfectly safe.

"Or are you just trying to assure us all that you're mental, McMahon?' Jeff Jarrett smirked down at me as I turned to glare at the blonde man.

"No." I grumbled. "And I wasn't stalking. I was just looking."

"Uh huh. Likely story." He snickered. "But you know, usually when people need to sort out their problems, they do it by talking. Not by _stalking_ them."

"I'm not stalking." I crossed my arms childishly. I wasn't. Really. Stalking was just a ludicrous idea.

"Whatever you say." Jarrett could hardly keep a straight face, which only earned him another glare from me.

"Go away Jarrett. Go bug someone else. I'm missing all the good stuff." I waved at the corner to prove my point.

Jarrett cocked his head to the side, glancing around the corner.

"They're gone."

"What!" my eyes widened as I snapped around, sneaking my head around the corner. I was disappointed to find that Jarrett was indeed correct. Damn that Tennessee man for ruining my…uh…non stalking activities.

"And you say you weren't stalking." I could hear him snicker behind me before he grabbed my arm and began pulling me from the spot. "Come on, pull some of that dignity back together and let's do what we planned to do."

"That's not as fun as trying to figure out if AJ still hates me or not." I mumbled as I pulled my arm from his grasp and settled on grumpily following the man.

"Oh he does don't worry."

"Thanks for the bluntness."

"No problem." He shot me a smirk as he lightly tapped on the neck of his trusty guitar that I just now noticed he had been carrying.

"So tell me, do you have like a closet full of those?"

"Hm?"

"The guitar." I nodded at the instrument.

"Something like that." He shrugged. "You really are too curious for your own good."

"Yep."

"And you do know that could get you into trouble right?" we pulled to a stop at the face entrance tunnel.

I glanced over at him. "Oh on many occasions. You should know Mr. Lets hate people for no good reason."

"Oh shut it." He nudged me. "Speaking of which, your boy toy isn't looking too hot out there."

"Boy toy?" I raised an eyebrow before glancing up at the monitor. I frowned as I saw Chris crumple to the mat of the ring, blood running down from his nose. My frown deepened as I watch the camera zoom up to the heel ramp, to where Punk was standing with a large smirk on his face. My blood began to boil as my fists clenched.

"When do you want this to happen?" Jarrett asked hesitantly.

I ignored his question as I watched Colt fiercely attack Chris' body with his own before successfully getting the pin over the man. My teeth clenched as Punk waltzed down to the ring, grabbing a microphone along the way.

"You see, this is what we can do to you people. You think you can just waltz back in here McMahon? Take back what you think belongs to you?" Punk paused to laugh cruelly. "I will just continue to take out everyone who means anything to you until I run you out for good. Set up the table Colt."

"No…" I groaned.

"Let's go." I felt Jarrett tug at my arm.

I nodded as I shot one last glance at the monitor. Soon however, I was being lightly pulled up the ramp as Jarrett's music began playing in the Impact Zone. As planned, I had paid off one of the light technicians to flash the lights off, leaving the men in the ring in confusion. Jarrett squeezed my shoulder reassuringly before we quickly made our way to the ring. I was just thankful I had done this countless of times to know my way through the dark without tripping over my own two feet.

"What the fuck Colt." I could hear Punk's frantic calls to his only alley at ringside.

As Jarrett and I slid into the ring, I squinted through the darkness to search for Chris' fallen body. Finding him quickly at the other end of the ring, I knelt down beside me.

"Chris?" I whispered in his ear, hoping he was still conscious.

"What the fuck are you…" he trailed off as he gasped for breath, holding his midsection in pain.

I almost wished the lights hadn't come on at that moment as Chris' face flashed with anger as he saw me kneeling over him. I tried to ignore the look by glancing over my shoulder to the others. Punk stood there shocked as Jarrett smashed his guitar over Colt's head. As his friend crawled from the ring, Punk looked between Jarrett and me, anger flashing through his eyes. He tried edging towards the edge of the ring, but I quickly shot to my feet only to deliver a spinning kick in his face. Reeling back, Punk fell right into Jarrett's trap as he power bombed him through the table. I knelt back down next to Chris, who was trying to sit himself up, while Jarrett picked up the fallen microphone.

"If you want a war Punk, you've got one." Jarrett spat before throwing the mic onto the ground and glancing over at us.

"You shouldn't be down here." Chris grunted as he brushed my hand away.

"Oh just let me help you Chris." I shot him a nasty look.

He grunted a curse but allowed me to help him slide under the ropes. Jarrett came to his side, helping Chris walk as I slowly followed from behind. It felt like hours before we were backstage. Chris immediately pushed away the help, resulting in him stumbling to the side into the wall. His glare had intensified as he gazed over at me.

"Why can't you just let me protect you instead of you running around trying to land yourself in the hospital?"

"I would hardly say what I did out there put myself in danger." I shot back.

He snorted as he pushed himself off the wall, steadying himself. "You couldn't just do what I asked could you?"

I sighed. "Chris, you know I can't just sit back while he goes around terrorizing everyone I care about. Look at what he did to you!"

"I don't care if he breaks every bone in my body Tess! All I care about is your safety. I god damn well lost you once and I don't want it to happen again. But if you keep acting reckless, it will!"

"Chris, I went to help you. I wasn't even going to get involved. That's why I had Jarrett out there."

Chris just shook his head stubbornly. "Something still could have happened. You'll just keep doing stuff like this, not thinking about the consequences of your actions."

"Your overreacting Chris!"

"No, I'm just being a caring Boyfriend!" he fought back. "I care Tess. I'm sorry, but I do. I love you. I don't want you to get hurt again. Can't you understand that?"

I was speechless as a pained expression fell over his face. He looked away for a moment before he shook his head and shot me a frown.

"I can't try to do this relationship again if this is going to happen." He motioned between us. "Come find me when you've decided to grow up a little."

"Chris…"

He just shook his head as he limped past an awkward look Jarrett and down the hall. I sighed heavily as I ran a hand through my dark hair.

"Sorry you had to see that." I apologized to the southern native.

He just shrugged as he shoved his hands into his jean pockets.

"I guess I should go…"

"Stalk him too?"

I couldn't help but let out a small laugh. I playfully nudged him in the arm as I walked past the man.

"You know, for a guy who hated me a year ago, you aren't that bad." I stopped to look back at him.

"Sadly I can't say the same for you. You're still annoying."

I grinned. "Yeah well, now you have to live with it."

"Unfortunately."

As I turned back around, I caught the slightest smile adorning the man's lips. Heading down the hallway after Chris, I realized this was the start of a rather interesting relationship between the two of us.

* * *

**A/N: I know, its been forever. What can i say, i've had a very busy last few months. Between University, exams, starting a new semester, midterms, life in general, then throw in my birthday a week ago, its been a very rocky ride. Unfortuantely i havent been able to write alot during that time, mostly just cuz i've had writers block. Then suddenly last night (well technically early this morning as it was 1) i just started writing. and bam, here we are right now. It's not fantastic i know...but its something right?**


	105. Chapter One Hundred and Four

**Chapter 104:**

"So how exactly is driving to California going to make me feel better?" I glanced out the window to the passing scenery.

Alex snickered from beside me in the driver's seat. "Well I have a show, and you needed to actually visit the outside world. Stop complaining and just enjoy it."

"Enjoy what though? I have no idea where we're going besides the fact that you said California." I pointed out as I fidgeted in the passenger seat. I hated long drives. We had already been in the car for five hours now, and I was ready to just call it a day.

"PWG show." He answered as he swerved off the highway and onto an exit ramp. "Hungry?"

"Sure. Anything to get out of the car."

Alex rolled his eyes. "It's only been five hours Tess."

"I don't like long drives." I shrugged. "So what's PWG?"

"Pro Wrestling Guerrilla. One of my favorite places to wrestle to be honest. It's brilliant." A smile formed on his face as he pulled into a McDonalds. "I'll tell you more once we get food."

I nodded as we left the car. I wasn't really sure why I had agreed to go on this road trip with Alex. I hadn't exactly been a social one for the past week since the tapings. After the first few days of calling Chris nonstop, going to his apartment, as well as the gym, only to be avoided or ignored, I had grown somewhat depressed. I felt guilty that I had blown up over the silly fact that he was only caring about me. What right did I have getting mad at that? I just let my pride get the better of me, and now I fully regret that. I loved Chris, more than I thought I ever would. I didn't want to lose him because I was an idiot. Unfortunately for the past week it looked like that may actually happen. I had grown distant from my friends, never wanting to leave the apartment, and hardly ever leaving my room. Jeff and Jay were frustrated, I could tell. I didn't mean to push them all away; I just didn't know what else to do. I felt so alone, even though I knew I was always surrounded by my hoards of friends. But it just didn't feel like that to me. I just felt alone. For some reason though, whenever Alex came over to try and get me to leave my room, I never felt alone. He had really grown into someone I trusted. Why else would I have agreed to come with him for this trip? I know the guys were upset that I had agreed to Alex's offer, when I had denied all of theirs. I could see it in their faces that they were hurt. But I couldn't help it. I felt a bit better when I was around Alex. It was had to rationalize why, I just did.

"Alright," Alex and I slid into a booth at the back of the busy restaurant, food in front of us. "PWG is probably one of the greatest places you could ever work. TNA is all fine and dandy, but it's just not the same as PWG, and a few others too."

"What's so special?" I felt myself become intrigued. I had really only known WWE and TNA as wrestling promotions. Growing up, I had never been introduced to the independent promotions. I guess I never thought I would need to. Even now with TNA, I was fully set only on TNA. I never really thought about even wrestling anywhere else on the side. Though by the way Alex and a few others had talked about some promotions, I found myself tempted to try it out.

"Pretty much everything." He shrugged. "It's owned and run by wrestlers, not just some Corporate CEO guy. No offence or anything." He shot me a small smile before continuing. "Scott Lost is usually the brains behind everything. It's just pretty much brilliant. Humor and great wrestling put together. The guys are awesome."

I could tell he really loved the promotion. That smile that was growing on his face was undeniable, as was that spark in his eyes as he spoke. I remembered a time when I felt that with TNA. Somehow down the line, I had lost that excitement.

"It's different than with TNA. There's no office politics. There's no 'to the death' kind of hatred you know. I mean I like TNA and all. Good paycheck every week. But…the independents, like PWG and ROH, are just better. Or at least to me." He admitted. "You can wrestle, and not have to worry about five or six guys coming down to kick your head in. It's just you and your opponent, putting on one hell of a fight in front of fans that actually care. If I could afford it, I'd just be doing Indy's instead of TNA. Unfortunately I can't"

"Sounds really nice." I nodded at him. And it really did. I was starting to become excited to be able to see him wrestle there. While I knew he was an amazing wrestler, I had a feeling what I saw in TNA wasn't even close to his full potential.

"You should really think about it sometime T." he commented, popping a fry into his mouth. "I mean, how nice would it be to just wrestle and not have to worry about Punk or any of them."

I sighed. It was a rather nice thought. "You have no idea how appealing that sounds."

Alex chuckled. "You're an incredible wrestler Tess; you really shouldn't let it waste in TNA. I know you want revenge on Punk, and I understand that, believe me I do. But it might be good for you to have a place you can go every few weeks just to get away from all the drama. Works for me."

"It does sound nice." I nodded. "But I don't know…"

He shrugged. "Up to you. But you and I aren't so different. I know how much you love wrestling. I can see it every time you go out to the ring. But because of those jackasses, you don't really get a chance to shine as much as you should be able to."

"That's true." I cocked my head to the side. "I'll think about it."

He nodded. "Well you still have a long drive to think about it."

I raised an eyebrow at him.

"Don't worry about it babe." A smirk grew on his face. I had a feeling he was planning something. The odd thing about it though, was that I wasn't worried about it.

* * *

"Oh I like Cali." I grinned widely as a group of men jogged past shirtless.

"You have a boyfriend remember." Alex slapped me over the head, earning him a glare.

"Doesn't mean I can't look." I stretched. It really had been a long drive as he had said. I was happy to be out of the car and in California. I wasn't sure how long we were staying, but I was more than happy to be here. "So when's this show?"

"Should head over in a few hours. The venue is just down the road though, so we can walk up there in a bit." Alex connected his camera to his belt buckle and grabbed my arm. "Now come on, I haven't been able to stalk anyone in days."

I laughed as he pulled me across the busy street to where a bunch of stores were lined up. I glanced in the windows as I followed Alex, who was intently looking for something interesting to film. After a few moments, I felt a tug on my arm, pulling me to a stop.

"Yo, Joey!" Alex shouted.

I looked over to where he was looking and saw two men leaving a small diner.

"What's up Shelley?" the brunette stuck in the 80's grinned as he looked me up and down. "Never thought the day I'd be able to meet THE Tess McMahon. Damn you're hotter in person."

I felt myself blush as Alex snickered. "This is Joey Ryan and Scott Lost." He pointed to the respective individual. "And you guys of course know this is Tess."

"Nice to meet you." Scott nudged his friend before shaking my hand. "Ignore him, he's a sex addict."

"Hey, it's a disease. With it's own doctors and everything." Joey defended, his grin still displayed on his face. I had a feeling it was very rare to see him not grinning that widely.

"Yeah alrightie then." Scott rolled his eyes. "So when'd you get down here?"

"Just got in. walking around before heading to the venue." Alex answered. "Everyone here yet?"

"ROH guys should be here in the next hour or two." Scott glanced down at his watch. "They had shows this weekend."

"Damn, wish I knew." Alex frowned for a moment before shrugged. "Oh well. Chris show up?"

"Yeah he's complaining that you're taking so long." Joey nodded. "We had to tape the guy's mouth shut before escaping."

"Oh good, he talks too much."

"You're real nice to your own friend." I shot him a glance.

"You don't know him, he talks far too much." Alex shrugged. "I swear. Sorta like you."

I slapped his arm. "Shut up Alex."

"Woman!" he rubbed his upper arm with a scowl. "What did I say about hitting?"

"That it was fun?" I smiled innocently.

"You're going to be the death of me." he groaned.

"You're the one who wanted me to come with." I shrugged. "Your own fault."

"I'm regretting it every minute."

"Oh you know you love me Shelley." I poked him in the chest.

"Ha ha, funny."

"Sorry to cut you guys short, but we should head back." Scott interrupted us, an amused look on his face. "It was nice to meet you Tess. I'm excited to see what you can do in the ring tonight."

"Huh?" I shot him a confused stare, before looking over at Alex. What in the world was he talking about?

"What?" he shot me his own innocent look.

His smirk grew larger by the second. I groaned as I began to realize what he had done.

"I'm going to kill you." I punched his arm.

"Ouch." He pouted. "It was for your own good I swear!"

"Uh huh." I folded my arms over my chest.

"We're just gonna head back now, good luck Shelley." Scott snickered as he grabbed Joey by the collar of his shirt and began walking away. "See you in a few"

I ignored the two men as I glared up at Alex. "What the Hell Shelley!"

"What?" he held up his hands in defense. "I gave you a hint all the way back there at McDonalds. You just didn't pick up on it. Not my fault."

"When were you planning on telling me you booked me in a match against my knowledge?"

"Uh, right before your match?"

"Alex!"

"Okay, I'm sorry, but I was just thinking about you." He inched backwards at my glare.

"Oh, you were, were you?"

"I swear!"

"And how do you figure that?"

"Your like me, you need to wrestle to get your mind off of things. Wrestling lets you go off and not have to think of anything. You can't really do that in TNA when you have Punk trying to kill you. So what's better than here?"

"I don't have any of my stuff." I pointed out, though I realized my voice was a lot calmer than before. Alex did have a point. Wrestling was my way out of everything. All I had to do was get into that ring, and nothing else mattered. But I couldn't do that in TNA. TNA was where my problem laid. I couldn't possibly try and escape my problems there. But I could here. And as sneaky as Alex was, I actually felt myself sort of appreciate the effort. He clearly cared enough to do this for me.

"Grabbed it when you were in the bathroom before we left." He admitted. I was impressed; he really did go to a lot of trouble.

I sighed. I could do this right? I mean I couldn't very well say no, as it was booked and all. But could I really do this all over again, being the new girl and being judged because of my name? I voiced my concern to Alex, to which he just shook his head.

"PWG is nothing like TNA. They aren't going to care that you're a McMahon. Most of them already know your debuting tonight anyways. I talked to a bunch of them before we came down here, and they were pretty excited to meet you. These guys aren't the judging kind. Especially after seeing what you can do through watching TNA. They don't give a damn about your last name, just about what you can do in the ring. And you have talent, that's all that matters. You don't have to worry about anything else."

"I'm holding you to that." I tugged at my shirt nervously.

"So does that mean you'll do it?" he asked hopefully.

"Don't really have much of a choice now do I?" I couldn't help the small smile forming on my lips.

Maybe this wouldn't be so bad. Maybe it would be good for me to wrestle elsewhere, to get a different perspective on everything. And if these people were how Alex described them, then there really wasn't any harm in at least giving it a try. Scott and Joey seemed welcoming enough. Who knows, maybe I would actually like it around here.

* * *

**A/N:** Yep, thats right, i updated. I'm pretty sure i had like 5 variations of how this chapter was going to go. And i'm pretty sure every single time i got finished it, i decided i didnt like it. Until i wrote this. Don't ask where the inspiration came from. I've been having some crazy personal problems going on lately, and this just seemed like a nice way to escape from it all. Oh that and i was on the PWG website and reading stuff about their upcoming show. Is it just me or is that stuff just brilliant? anyways, i couldn't help but throw Lost and Ryan in here. I Love them. and it kind of works with how the other stuff i worked out for the future, so all in all, yayness for me i updated! i hope its alright. i've been having a block lately. also alot of new story ideas coming out. check out the new Team Canada one i posted. more chapters on the way, just need to edit them. also have a MCMG one in the works, but i promised i wouldnt post until i had 10 chapters written...i think i have 6 done or so, so that'll be soon.

As for my other stories....Bittersweet Sensation i'm getting some ideas for. i read through like half of the story yesterday and got excited about it again :) Less Than Zero i'm rewriting completely. I'm just stumped at the moment cuz i dont have BCW as my inspiration for a few months due to me not being in Windsor for the summer. also thinking about working on some others as well, so we'll see how it all goes. thats all for now tho, i'm like writing a novel here lol.


	106. Chapter One Hundred and Five

**Chapter 105:**

As we walked towards the front door of the PWG show venue, I couldn't help but nervously tug at the strap of the small duffel bag over my shoulder. While I couldn't deny the fact that I was indeed a good wrestler, I just couldn't help that nagging feeling at the pit of my stomach. What if no one here liked me, despite what Alex had said? What if I didn't live up to what everyone expected of me? It was just too much going on in my head to even try and enjoy this new experience.

"Cool it T." Alex rested a hand on my shoulder as we stopped before the doors. "It'll go fine, I promise you."

"But what if it doesn't?" my eyes were wide with concern.

He shot me a lopsided grin. "Of course it will. Come on, your Tess McMahon, you can do this."

I fidgeted. "Yeah that's what you think."

"Tess, you're an amazing wrestler, you can do this. Believe in yourself for once. God knows I do."

It was one of the rare moments of sincerity from Alex that had become more constant over the short time we had grown close. He had never seemed like the caring about anyone else type. But I suppose I was always wrong about him. There was a whole other side to the Detroit Native that no one else really got a chance to see. Heck, I never knew a sweet, kind, caring Alex Shelley existed until only recently. Though at the comforting squeeze to my shoulder, I somehow knew I could in fact do this. I don't understand it at all. I felt comforted when I was around him. I felt like I could do anything. Most people didn't se that I was really a self conscious individual. I tried to hide that quality with al my might. But around Alex, I allowed my barriers down.

"Believe me, you'll love it. The first time is always the craziest, but in a really good way." He assured me. "I promise you that it won't go horribly."

I nodded slowly. I knew I could trust his word. Who would have thought that I would trust Alex Shelley than most people lately? I surely didn't.

"Alright fine." I allowed Alex to lead me into the building. "But you know if it does go horribly wrong…"

"I'll let you kill me." He shot me a smirk before pulling me towards the locker rooms. "I'm just going to go find Chris to let him know we're here then we can go find Candice. She'll be your opponent tonight."

"Sounds good." I couldn't help but look around at everything in slight amazement. Everything was completely new to me. I was far too used to how WWE and TNA were run, that I never really got the full experience that most wrestlers now-a-days got by going through the independent scene.

"You'll know one or two back here as well." Alex slowed down his face. "Like Austin Aries. He works at TNA. Though you two don't run in the same crowd, but I guess that's the same with Chris."

"Still nice to see a familiar face."

"Well here we are." We stopped at a door, Alex raising a hand to knock. "I'll introduce you to some of the guys while we're here."

I nodded as we waited. Finally the door was torn open to reveal Chris Sabin smiling on the other side.

"You two finally got here." He greeted, motioning for us to come in.

I grabbed onto Alex's arm shyly as we walked in. Alex chuckled as he threw his bag down to where Chris had walked back over to. There was only one other in the room, that being Austin Aries

"I'm actually surprised you didn't kill him." Chris shot me a friendly grin.

I felt almost guilty that I had never really gotten to know Chris Sabin over the time I had been in TNA. I knew he was a nice guy, and never tried to get involved with what has been going on between Punk and us. From what Alex had told me on the drive here, Chris seemed like the sort of person I would just about love. He sounded a bit like Alex, though a much more toned down and likeable version of course. I was glad that I would finally be able to get to know the guy; even just due to the fact that Alex and I were much closer than before.

"I thought it would be rude of me to leave you without a partner." I smiled back at him.

"Thanks, I appreciate that. Wouldn't want me to be stuck with Aries now would we?" he laughed as he ran a hand through his sandy brown hair.

An empty water bottle came flying over and hit Chris square in the back of the head. I glanced over as a smirking Austin sent Chris the finger. I chuckled as Chris stuck his tongue out at him before rubbing the back of his head.

"Immaturity at it's best." Alex shook his head.

"Oh whatever Alex, you're just as bad." I nudged him. "I did have to be stuck in a car with you for hours on end."

"Shush." He nudged me back. "Can I have my arm back before you cut off its circulation by the way?"

I blushed as I let go of his arm. I stood there in awkward silence as Alex promised to be right back as he shot into the bathroom with his ring attire. Chris and Austin, who were already dressed, went back to whatever they were doing before we arrived, leaving me to just stand there. After a moment though, Austin stood up, flexing his arm before shoot me a glance.

"So when Alex told me he was bringing you I thought he was kidding." He admitted, though smiled. "It's nice to see you here though. We never really spoke at all back at TNA, but it's nice to see you out of that hot box."

I smiled back as I nodded.

"Well I have to head off. We should really chat sometime."

He waved as he left the room, leaving me in uncomfortable silence once again.

"This all seems strange to you doesn't it?" Chris spoke up, breaking the ice.

"Kinda yeah." I nodded, my cheeks turning red.

"Don't get embarrassed, we were all there." He shot me an encouraging look. "It's just like TNA…just not as crazy. Well it's crazy, just not in the whole 'I'm going to kill you' sort of way."

I couldn't help but laugh at that. He was definitely right. And I had to admit, I'd much rather feel completely awkward than be fearing for my life every time I turned a corner.

"It'll get easier. Everyone back here is really nice. Pretty sure no one is trying to kill someone else."

"Well that's good. I could use a vacation from that." I responded truthfully.

"I bet." He stood. "Look, I know we really don't know each other that well, being in a different crowd and all in TNA, but I've never had a bad thought about you. I always liked the idea of you being in TNA, stirred up the pot a bit, but in a good way. Well until Punk came back and decided to make everyone hate each other." Chris shrugged. "But you're a cool person. Like to get to know ya more."

"Same." I nodded in agreement.

"And hey, we already have something in common." He pointed at the bathroom in reference to Alex.

It was at that exact moment that the bathroom door opened, and Alex tripped out of the room and fell flat on his face. Chris and I shared a look before laughing.

"We shouldn't really take pride in that." I snickered.

"Yeah definitely not." Chris shook his head with a smirk as Alex stood up and glared at the two of us.

"I hate you both…don't know what your talking about, but I still hate you." He pouted as he ran a hand over his face and dumped his clothes in his bag.

"Oh we love you Lexi." Chris slapped Alex over the head.

"Whatever you say Chrissy." Alex rolled his eyes. "Wanna go?"

I shrugged. "Sure."

"You're leaving me all alone?" Chris pulled on his own pout.

"Yep, I can't take both of you at once."

"Oh well in that case Chris totally has to come!" I grabbed onto Chris' arm and began pulling him towards the door. "I can't let you go unannoyed now can I?"

"Oh I already like you so much." Chris snickered.

Alex groaned. "I'm already hating this with a passion."

* * *

**A/N:** Yep, another update in the same day! i'm awesome. i blame the fact that i love PWG so much that i just wanted to write write write! lol. its not that much, just really wanted to show more of Tess/Alex relationship growing...and of course Chris Sabin enters the story :) and it is full time. I've missed having him in here. and since everyone under the blue moon is in the story, may as well add the other half the hottest tag team around ;) lol.

btw, i was watching Impact tonight, and Alex Shelley makes me want to drool all over myself...i'm pretty sure i did actually hahaha. oh, and i was watching old ROH yesterday, the show right after Alex was kicked out of Gen Next, and i was in love...nothing is better than old school Austin Aries and Roderick Strong. 3


	107. Chapter One Hundred and Six

**Chapter 106:**

"Hi I'm Candice LeRae." The blonde in front of me bounced happily, shaking my hand. "I of course know who you are."

I stifled a laugh as I smiled. "Nice to meet you."

"This is your first Indy show right?" she let her bag fall onto the couch beside my own bag.

"Yeah, pretty much freaked out." I admitted.

"Don't worry about it." She waved my concern off. "I've seen your TNA stuff, your great in the ring. Believe me, if anyone should be worried, it should be me. Nah, but don't worry. Everyone back here is great. The fans are great. Just about everything is great to be honest."

I smiled at her bubbly attitude. Actually, I found myself enjoying her company. She was much different than the women in TNA, who were always on their toes backstage. But Candice was full of happiness, it was refreshing to see. Calmed me down a bit too I had to admit. Maybe this whole thing wasn't as bad as I had thought it would be.

"So you came with Alex Shelley right?" she pulled her hair back into a ponytail as she dug through her bag.

I nodded as I sat on the arm of the couch beside my bag, feeling much more comfortable than I had once Alex and Chris left.

"And you clearly know Chris and Austin. TNA and all." She straightened and tapped her chin. "Have you met anyone else?"

"Ah, we ran into Scott Lost and Joey Ryan earlier before coming here, but that's about it." I shrugged.

"Wanna go meet some. I swear they're harmless." She offered.

Feeling adventurous, I nodded. What could it hurt? I had already been greeted and welcomed better than I would have expected, so it really couldn't be all that bad meeting some of the guys back here. Already I felt a much better atmosphere than TNA. It was nice not to have so much tension between everyone. When you saw someone in the hall, they smiled or waved. They didn't look like they wanted to kill you. I had to admit that I much rathered PWG to TNA right about now.

Candice led me out of the room, her arm linking my own as she practically skipped down the hallway. I smiled widely. I couldn't help it. I had only known her for a few minutes and I was already feeling like I had made a new friend. It was nice. Much different than the instant enemies back in Orlando.

"So this is one of the male locker rooms." She nodded at a door as we passed. "My ex is always in that one, so if you don't mind, I'd rather stay clear of it."

"Not a problem. I completely understand." I couldn't help the small thought of if I even had a boyfriend when I got back home.

"I'll take you to ringside. Everyone usually hangs out there before and after the shows. And it'll get you a feel of everything." She pushed back the black curtain that I guessed was the entrance to ringside. I was correct as we walked down an aisle lined by ring barricades. Looked around the venue, I noted the range of stage hands and wrestlers around the large room. Chairs were being set up on all sides on the right, while wrestlers were spread out on the ones already put up. Some seemed to be chatting about matches, while others just plainly catching up. Looking at the ring, I spotted Austin Aries laughing with who I noticed as Roderick Strong and a few others I hadn't met.

"Hey boys!" Candice waved as we neared the ring. "Want you all to meet our newest addition, Tess McMahon."

Austin slid from the ring, leaning beside me on the apron. Roderick Strong slipped under the bottom rope and sat on the apron beside Austin, a brunette joining him. The last man leant against the ropes with a smile on his lips.

"You know Austin. This here is Roderick Strong." Candice pointed.

"Hey, worked in TNA together for a bit." He shook my hand.

"And these two are Kevin Steen and Davey Richards." She pointed at the one beside Roderick and then one leaning against the ropes.

"Nice to meet you." Kevin greeted.

"I love fresh meat." Davey winked at me.

"Don't be a pig." Candice slapped his leg, though a smile adorned her face. "They really are harmless. Well maybe watch out for Davey here."

"All he cares about is getting laid." Kevin rolled his eyes.

"Hey!" Davey sent a small kick to his back.

Kevin smirked before slipping back under the ropes and grabbing Davey into a headlock. I chuckled at the two's antics. It really was nice to just see everyone fooling around with one another. I hadn't seen that in a very long time.

"So you two are obviously wrestling each other right?" Roderick glanced between the two of us.

"Yeppers!" Candice nodded with a grin.

"Is she ever not happy?" I found myself asking Austin.

He snickered and shook his head. "Never. Well except around Hero."

"Ugh, lets not mention my ex please."

"Are you two off again?" Roderick shook his head and rolled his eyes. "Her and Chris are always off and on. You can never keep up with those two."

"Last time I swear." She huffed. "He's a jack ass. You just don't understand, you're a guy."

"You said that the last time." Austin pointed out.

"Yeah well…Tess understands…right?" she looked at me for help.

"Oh yeah totally. Men are like shoes really. You like one pair, but they always hurt your feet so eventually you throw them away."

"Aha! She understands me!" she threw an arm around me. "I've found my new fav person back here."

"Does this mean she won't bug us?" Roderick asked Austin.

"Oh god I hope so." Austin moaned.

"Mean." Candice shot them a glare. "Alright, enough of you two, I can feel I'm unloved. We'll just go."

"Oh well Tess can stay, but you can go if you want." Austin pulled me to his side, earning a slap to his head from me.

"Sorry, but we girls gotta stick together." I smirked as I allowed Candice to drag me off. "Nice to meet you all!"

I waved to the four men as I was being dragged away through a break in the barricades.

"Those four are great guys, just so you know."

"I can tell." I nodded.

"So that over there," Candice pointed towards the far end that we were walking towards. "Is Bryan Danielson. He's a complete sweetheart. He's chatting with Scott Lost, who you said you met right? Chris Bosh is with them as well…oh and there's…oh…no…that's probably…yeah…oh lets go over there!"

I raised an eyebrow as she immediately changed our direction. I shot a glance back to the group we were just about to meet, and that's when I saw the problem. Colt Cabana stood laughing with the three men. I instantly felt relieved that she had indeed moved us along. I really didn't need this day to be ruined by one of Punk's closest friends.

"Thanks." I gave her an appreciative smile as we slowed down once backstage.

"I never realized he was here, sorry. Well I mean he is a regular, I should have assumed. Well I'm just an idiot. Oh well. You can meet Chris and Bryan another time." She waved it off. "How about we go chat about our match instead?"

"Sounds good to me." I agreed.

We walked silently towards our locker room. A few times we would stop and Candice would introduce me to a variety of people. Alex had been correct when he said no one judged back here. Everyone I had met was completely friendly. It was like whatever happened in TNA, or my last name, didn't even ring a bell to these people. I felt appreciative. Maybe Alex was right; I did need a place like this to escape to once in awhile. It was the perfect place. The people were welcoming, I had already made a quick friend in Candice, and who could resist California?

"Oh hey, there's my fav girls!"

I rolled my eyes as Alex and Chris caught up to us right outside our locker room.

"How's everything going?" he directed his question more towards me.

"Great actually." I answered.

"See, told you it wouldn't be bad." He grinned down at me while wrapping an around my shoulders. "You should listen to me more often.

"Ha ha, yeah right." I nudged him.

"Mean." A pout crossed his face.

"Stop acting like a five year old." Chris slapped him across the head. He then shot me a warm smile. "We just wanted to let you know that we're gonna be going out with you for your match."

"And then you getta do the same for us." Alex grinned widely. "Awesome huh?"

"I have to be stuck with you? That's horrible!"

"Hey! We take offence to that!" he grumbled.

"We? I never said I didn't want to be stuck with Chris." I smirked.

Chris laughed. "Oh good, then we can ditch him!"

"Yes please!" I nodded.

"I feel so unloved." Alex raised a hand to his heart. "I'm hurt."

"Ah, poor you." Candice patted his arm.

"At least she likes me."

"I never said I liked you." A smirk crossed her face. "I just pity you."

"Your corrupting everyone T, I shouldn't have brought you." He pointed at me accusingly.

I grabbed his finger and twisted it, causing him to jump back.

"God woman! You're a nasty one!" he nursed his finger close to his body.

"Thanks." I stuck my tongue out.

"Maybe I'll just leave you here and I'll go back to TNA myself." He threatened.

"Sounds good to me." I shrugged.

Rolling his eyes, Alex slapped me across the head. I grumbled and kicked him in the shin in return. Chris and Candice both laughed before Chris pulled Alex away, saying something about seeing me later. I shook my head as Candice and I headed back into the room to discuss our match.

* * *

**A/N:** I know, i rock, another update from me :) i can't help it, I'm just in the writing mood. again, not alot happening, but i need a way to really introduce most of the PWG characters, as they probably will play a role later on down the road. and i really can't resist Roderick Strong and Davey Richards...hot or what! lol, anyways...anyone remember the good old Austin Starr days? i was just watching the 16 man gauntlet match from Bound For Glory 2006 with Austin Starr debuting and winning the bowling trophy. it was just pure awesomeness. i miss those days...tho, i really do see a slight reference to the Starr days in Austin's new gimmick...just without looking like a hard gay, cuz thats always a good thing haha.

Well, anyways, i'm gonna go do my writing while im still in this groove! may as well just expect another chapter today seeing as i'm zooming through these lol.


	108. Chapter One Hundred and Seven

**Chapter 107:**

"I'm going to puke." I groaned.

Alex rolled his eyes. "You're going to be fine Tess."

"That's not fixing the want to puke thing." I shot at him.

Candice laid a comforting hand on my shoulder. "Just remember everything we talked about. It'll go perfectly. Just have fun. It's not like you have to look over your shoulder every five minutes. Just go out there and wrestle."

I smiled weakly at her before her entrance music came blasting through the speakers.

"I'll see ya out there Tess." She grinned before pushing through the curtains.

"Do I even have music?" I glanced over at Alex, my eyes wide.

"I wouldn't forget that now would I?"

"Know you, probably." Chris voiced.

"Shut up dude." Alex shot him a glare. "We did a remix of our music, so don't worry."

"That's easy for you to say." I gripped at my midsection in fright.

I wasn't sure why I was so nervous. I hadn't even been this nervous when I first debuted for TNA. But here I was, butterflies fluttering around my stomach like crazy. I glanced towards the curtain as Candice's music ended, and a new track began. Alex had been correct; it was a remix of his music. Slight dance mix to it. I shot both Alex and Chris a look, which they gave me encouraging smiles in return.

"Remember, we'll be right here with you." Alex whispered in my ear. "You can do this Tess."

I nodded slowly before inhaling sharply and taking a step towards the curtain. Alex and Chris were on either side of me as they held open the black material for me to go through. As I took a step out into the crowded ringside area, I couldn't stop the smile from spreading across my lips. The fans were on their feet cheering as the three of us slowly walked towards the ring.

"Making her way to the ring, being accompanied by the Motor City Machine Guns, Tess McMahon!"

My grin widened as I hopped up onto the ring apron, Chris and Alex following suit beside me. As I slipped into the ring, I caught a small smile from Candice. I turned back to Alex and Chris only to have Alex peck me quickly on the cheek.

"Go knock them dead babe." He winked before he and Chris left the apron.

I inhaled sharply as I looked around. Everyone was settled in their seats, looking even more excited than I even was. I couldn't help my own excitement building though. Being out here, being in this ring across from Candice, having those two men at ringside sending me encouragement, I felt like I could do this. I felt like I could anything. I felt like I could finally shine, finally be able to wrestle like I always wanted to. And that's exactly what I was going to do.

* * *

"Your winner, Tess McMahon!"

I grinned widely as the ref held my arm up in victory. I held my back but ignored the slight pain as Alex swooped me up in a hug.

"Knew you could do it babe." He embraced me tightly.

"Thanks." I squealed in happiness.

I turned to the opposite side of the ring where Candice was slowly pulling herself up thanks to the help of the ropes. I smiled as I walked over and held out a hand. She shot me a twin smile before taking the hand. Once she was on her feet I held up her arm in respect. Without her, I probably wouldn't have been able to get through this match. While the women in TNA were great to wrestle, they had nothing on Candice. She was just amazing. Gave me a run for my money, which I appreciated. I liked a challenge, especially one against a friend.

"Great job." She told me as we made it backstage.

"You too, you were great out there." We hugged quickly.

"You both were great." Alex wrapped an arm around my shoulders and pulled me closer. "Happy you did this?"

"Very happy. Thanks for doing this all Alex. It wouldn't have happened without you." I stopped to hug him tightly.

"No problemo." He chuckled but returned the gesture nonetheless. "That's what you do for friends."

I smiled up at him as we continued out way through the hallways. Candice eventually waved and promised to catch up to me later as she ducked into our locker room. Meanwhile, Chris and Alex led me back to their room, wanting to get ready for their own match later in the night against Cape Fear. We sat in the locker room for hours it felt, just goofing around. I found myself happy to be here, happy to be able to see a different side of wrestling. If for nothing else, the new friends I had gained from this experience. I had a feeling Chris and I would be spending a lot more time hanging out back in Orlando. Everything just seemed to fit perfectly when the three of us were together. It felt like I had known both of these men for years, not just a few hours like I did with Chris. I knew Candice and I would definitely be keeping in contact after the show. She felt like someone I could really trust and confide in. Everything here in PWG was in deed perfect. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else right now. I felt more like myself working here than I had in a very long time. While I loved TNA and my friends there, I didn't get that heart pumping excitement anymore. The only reason I had returned in the first place was revenge. What happened after I achieved that, I wasn't sure. But I knew I would return to PWG. I had found an escape, and that's exactly what I needed right about now.

"Our match is up in a few." Chris mentioned, glancing down at his phone. "We should prob head over to the curtain."

"Let's just be fashionably late." Alex waved it off.

I slapped his arm. "Get up Alex."

"Meanie." He shot at me.

"Yeah yeah yeah." I rolled my eyes with a chuckle. "Get steppin` mister!"

* * *

"Great match guys!" I congratulated the two once again as we stopped by their locker room after their match.

"Come by before the show ends and we'll go celebrate." Alex told me.

I nodded before waving and headed towards my own locker room. Those two really had been amazing out there. I realized why Alex loved being here so much, he rarely got to wrestle like he had tonight back in TNA. And he and Chris as a tag team was just mind blowing. They had pulled out moves I didn't even know existed, very well perfected to that stature. It was a nice eye opener to what was really out there wrestling wise. After tonight, I was definitely going to have to sit down with Alex and figure out a few other promotions that I would be interested in. I completely understood now why these wrestlers loved working the independent scene as much as they did. It was absolutely amazing what you could do here versus what you could in WWE or TNA.

"Well well well, Punk would just love to see this."

I groaned as I came to a stop, shooting a glare at Colt Cabana. He smirked wickedly at me as he took a step forward. I tried to just walk past him, not wanting to get into anything here, but he just grabbed me by the arm and pulled me back in front of me.

"Not so fast McMahon, I just wanna chat."

"Yeah, chat, right, that's what you people like to do." I attempted to pull my arm from his grasp. Unfortunately his grip was far too strong. "We're both here just to wrestle Cabana, let's not make this about TNA."

"Oh but Punk will just love to hear about this." He snickered. "I'm sure he would love to know about the new friends your making. Wasn't that Chris Sabin you were out there with, oh and I can't forget about Shelley."

"What's your point Cabana." I growled.

"Well you wouldn't want them to get hurt now would you?"

My face paled as he laughed cruelly.

"They may just have to be careful when we're back at TNA. Don't want them to walk into something they can't handle."

"You bastard." I began pulling my arm away, but he only pulled me closer. "Don't you dare even think about hurting them."

"Where's the fun in that?"

"Leave the girl alone Cabana." A new voice came from behind me.

"You wouldn't want to piss us off now would you?"

I glanced over my shoulder and sighed in relief as Austin and Roderick stood there with angry looks on their faces.

"This isn't any of your business." Cabana's hold tightened.

"It is Colt." Roderick grabbed onto Cabana's arm and pulled it away from mine by twisting it painfully. "How about you go worry about your match instead of picking on innocent people. Go run along before I break your back."

Cabana grumbled but pulled himself away from Roderick and turned to leave. I rubbed my arm in pain as I noticed a red mark begin to show. I had a feeling I would have a bruise there for a little while.

"You okay Tess?" Austin shot my arm a worried look.

"Nothing I haven't handled before." I gave him and Roderick an appreciative smile. "Thanks for that."

"No problem." Roderick patted my shoulder, a friendly grin on his face. "Not a lot of us have liked Colt lately because of what he's doing over in TNA. We're glad to bring down his ego a bit."

"Don't worry about him though. At least not back here. There's a lot of people who would rather see Roderick here break his back then to see him try and hurt you."

The funny thing was that I really believed that.

"Well thanks again. I appreciate the help." I tucked a piece of my hair behind an ear. "Don't you two have a match to head to though?"

"Knew there was something we had to do." Roderick chuckled.

"We should really head to that." Austin nodded. "By the way, you were really good out in the ring. You should come back."

"You should check out Ring of Honor too." Roderick commented as they slowly began to walk away. "You'd love it there."

I chuckled and waved as the two of them disappeared behind a corner. I quickly made my way towards the locker room, not really wanting to have the chance of dealing with Cabana again. He was really the only bad thing about this whole experience.

"Hey you." Candice walked out of the bathroom as I entered the room, clad in jeans and a t-shirt. "Alex and Chris win?"

"yeppers." I nodded as I headed to my bag, pulling out my own outfit from earlier.

"Oh hey, what happened? I don't remember that from the match." She pointed at my arm, spotting the newly fresh bruise.

"I had a little issue with Cabana." I frowned slightly.

"Oh no!" her eyes grew wide. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, Austin and Roderick came riding in like knights in shining armor." I smiled slightly. "I'm fine though. I've been through much worse."

"I bet. He's jackass though." She shook her head in disgust. "I'll kick him the next time I see him. I will!"

I laughed as she nodded repeatedly, her blonde hair bouncing along.

"Appreciate that."

"Anything for friends right?"

My smile grew. "Exactly."

* * *

**A/N: **Yay! another update w00t! finally got the match in, and everything went well :) and of course, i couldnt not have Cabana trying to create some drama, that just isnt me lol. oh and of course more Alex Shelley. cuz he's godly. and very hot. ;)


	109. Chapter One Hundred and Eight

**Chapter 108:**

_I glanced up from the soft bed, watching as Stephanie examined herself in the mirror. Her dress was beautiful. The white fabric floated on her body as if it was made for her. She looked elegant and beautiful, like the perfect bride. Her long dark hair was half pulled up, the small tiara with white engraved flowers was placed perfectly on top of her head, the long veil flowing over her hair in the back. I remember thinking she looked like a princess when she had first tried this dress on months ago. She really did look like one today; there was no doubt about that._

"_Hey Steph?"_

_My older sister paused to look back at me through the mirror. "Yeah Tess?"_

"_How did you know Paul was the one?" I asked shyly._

_A smile broke out onto her face as her eyes glazed over. She looked so happy to just think about the man that would be her husband in less than an hour._

"_The first time I saw him to be honest."_

"_What do you mean?" I left the bed and walked over to beside her at the mirror._

_She tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear as her smile widened. "I was at the office, getting something done for dad when Paul left dad's office. Me being me, I was a clutz and bumped into him. It was embarrassing to say the least. But…when I looked up at him, it was like something clicked." She paused for a moment, letting out a small laugh. "My heart was beating like a maniac. I almost thought it was going to beat right out of my chest. I couldn't even say anything, or well I tried and it came out in a jumble. He just smiled down at me with that smile of his and my heart flipped. I knew just by looking up at those eyes that he was the one I wanted to spend the rest of my life with."_

"_Wow." My eyes widened. I couldn't even fathom feeling anything like that. _

"_Of course it was easier said than done. Do you know how long it took me to even get him to notice me?" Stephanie laughed. "I almost gave up on him."_

"_Lucky you didn't huh." I couldn't help but smile. Her own smile was contagious. "I'm happy for you sis."_

"_Thanks Hun." She wrapped an arm around me. "Just wait until you feel that way. You won't know when it'll happen, but it will. It'll be the greatest thing you ever feel. Just you wait."_

"Tess! For the love of god stop day dreaming!"

I shook my head, shaking myself from my thoughts as I looked at Traci sitting in front of me, an annoyed expression on her face. I shot her a sheepish smile as I took a sip of my water.

"What's up with you T?" Carrie nudged me in the side. "You seem very out of it today. Everything okay?"

"Yeah, just thinking is all." I shrugged. "Sorry. Did I miss anything?"

"Just my life being ruined!" Traci groaned. "Eric wants me to meet his parents next weekend. I hate meeting parents."

"Oh you'll live." Petey rolled his eyes from beside her. "Why am I being forced to listen to girl talk?"

I chuckled. "Well you're the one who sat down."

"I'm regretting that." He grumbled as he took a look around catering. "Where's someone cool to save me."

"Did someone say my name?"

After a week of spending time with the man, I couldn't mistake the cocky voice.

"No Austin, no one said your name. Now if he said idiot, that would be your cue." I smirked at the brunette standing behind Traci and Petey.

Austin pouted as he crossed his arms. "That was just mean Tess. Candice has rubbed off on you far too much."

"Well it's quite easy Aussie, you're just so abusable." I winked.

"I'm gonna go where I'm loved." He went to turn but Petey grabbed at his am and dragged him into a seat at the round table.

"Stay, don't leave me with them." Petey pleaded.

"We're not that bad!" I defended.

"Well your not, your day dreaming the entire time. These two on the other hand." He shot Carrie and Traci glares. "All they do is put down men. Sheesh, what did we ever do?"

"I wouldn't go there Petey." Austin warned. "That would just be dangerous territory."

"I agree with Austin. Because we may just have to go on a 'men should all die' rant." I nodded.

"Mean…" Petey frowned.

"Well if you all weren't idiots we wouldn't have to go that far." Traci grumbled.

"Oh Austin! There's your cue!" I smirked widely.

"I hate you."

I just threw my now empty water bottle at his head, causing him to pout further.

"So when did you two become friends?" Carrie pointed between Austin and I. "Haven't really seen you two talk before."

"PWG." I answered, a grin appearing on my face. "Have I mentioned how much I love PWG?"

"About a thousand and one times." Carrie rolled her eyes. "Before you went all day dreamy."

I shrugged. "I can't help it. I love it."

"It is pretty damn kick ass huh?" Austin grinned as well. "Oh, and Roderick and I chatted with Cary and Gabe yesterday, both are really interested in meeting with you."

"Really?" my eyes widened in excitement. "That's awesome!"

"Cary and Gabe?" Petey raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"Owner and Booker of ROH." Austin answered. "It'll be very cool if you come to ROH."

"I'm definitely really interested for sure." I nodded.

"You know, I haven't seen you this happy or excited in a very long time Tess." Carrie commented, a smile on her lips. "It's nice to see."

"To be honest, I haven't felt this excited about anything in a very long time." I admitted. "With everything going on here, it's nice to think that I could go to PWG or whatever and just get a break. You have no idea how relaxing it was not having to worry about anything."

"Well minus Cabana." Austin reminded, a frown crossing his face.

"But you and Roddy swept in to save the day. So crisis averted."

"Wait, what happened with Cabana?" Petey looked over at me concerned.

I waved a hand. "It wasn't really anything. He just thought it would be a good idea to try and threaten me. I survived."

"The jackass." Petey frowned.

"It's fine Petey." I assured him, though I felt touched at the way he felt. It was only a year ago the guy hated me, and now he felt the need to protect me. It felt sort of nice. "The rest of the week was awesome though. And speaking of which, I should probably go find Alex and Chris, promised I'd find them before they wrestled."

"I'll come with you." Petey immediately stood up right after I did.

I rolled my eyes. Alright, it was cute the first time, but if he kept this up, he was going to get hit.

"I'm heading that way anyways." He held up his hands in defense. "Have to meet Scott."

"Fine fine." I stuck my tongue out at him. "I'll see you girls later. You too Aussie. Heart ya!"

"Love ya too babe." Austin winked as I began pulling Petey's arm towards the door.

"Carrie's right, you really are happy." Petey mused as we left catering and began towards the X Division locker room. "It suits you."

"Really, cuz I always thought the sad depressed thing worked well." I pouted. "No emo for me I guess."

"Definitely not." He snickered, wrapping an arm around my shoulders. "Now I don't mean to bring up a bad subject, but have you talked to AJ lately?"

I frowned as we walked. "No. I tried calling a few times when we were in Cali, but he never picked up. I have a feeling he won't let up."

"Don't give up. I've known him for a long time, he tends to be stubborn." Petey assured me. "He'll come around."

"I hope so. He's a big part of my life, I don't want to lose him just because I didn't feel the same way towards him." I sighed. "Which reminds me, Chris still hates me I believe too."

"He still won't talk to you?" Petey sounded surprised. "Wow, what a douche."

"I get why he's mad, I just wish he'd let me make it right you know." I ran a hand through my hair. "Unfortunately though, there's a part of me that's unsure if it's right…being with him."

"What do you mean?"

I shrugged. "I keep thinking of my sister, and how she knew instantly that her and Paul were meant to be. I always figured I would feel that way when I knew it was right. I thought I felt that with Chris. But the more I think about it, I'm starting to doubt that I actually did feel what she did."

Petey tightened his hold on my shoulders in an attempt to comfort me.

"You know, I know I'm a guy and all, but I always believed in the whole knowing when its right thing. Sappy I know, but I do. I've never felt it, never been in love. But I'm a believer that when you feel it, it's true. It's different for everyone I expect. Maybe you didn't feel exactly what your sister did, but maybe you did feel something. With all of the crap going on, maybe you just didn't realize it. Give it time, it'll all work out. You'll know if it's right or not. Don't really know how to explain it, but you'll know."

I stared over at him in shock. "Wow, you sound more like a girl than you look."

"Thanks T." He sent me a glare.

I laughed. "Sorry. Thanks. I appreciate that. And yeah, I guess your right. I'll just have to see. I'm just frustrated that nothing seems to be going right anymore."

"It'll all work out."

"God I hope so Petey."

* * *

**A/N:** been a few days...wasn't sure how i was gonna go about doing this chapter. But after sleeping for awhile to drown out the pain in my ear/lack of being able to hear anything out of it, i came up with an idea and went with it. I figured i'd bring more Petey into the chapter....and Austin....sadly theres no Alex or Chris, which makes me sad...but next chapter i promise!

I would just like to mention i've become obsessed with Davey Richards....yes, obsessed...the first step is admitting it.....but i just can't help it. he's just so damn adorable. I just wanna huggle him...and i plan to do that when i see ROH next month (hopefully anyways)...yes, i plan to stalk the man and then huggle him...and then kidnap him....and make him tell me where Alex and Chris are...and then do the same thing with them.............I don't sound too crazy do I? I'm sure all you fan girls think the same thing though ;) hehe


	110. Chapter One Hundred and Nine

**Chapter 109:**

I glanced towards the locker room door nervously. I had been standing outside of Triple X's locker room for ages it seemed. Alex and Chris had made me come here almost immediately after I had joined them in their room. I insisted I'd do this later, but neither believed that. Now they stood across from me, growing impatient. I couldn't help it though. I just couldn't get up enough will power to knock on the door. What if he just ignored me again? I couldn't really handle the rejecting thing. I was desperately trying to figure out if what Chris and I had was meant to be, and it was extremely hard to be positive when he was giving me the cold shoulder.

"Okay I'm just going to do it for you." Chris stood forward and knocked on the door before I could stop him.

I sent him a dark look as Alex grabbed Chris and began walking away waving.

"What do you want?"

I jumped at the sudden growl of a voice. I turned to see an angry looking Christopher Daniels. I gulped as averted his glare. His dark eyes were driving a hole through my skull and it was rather uncomfortable.

"Hi." Was all I could muster. I was an idiot. I mentally hit myself as I silently cursed. I've been trying to talk to him for 2 weeks and all I say is 'hi'? Someone should just hit me and get it over with.

"Go away." He just grumbled, going to shut the door in my face.

I was thankfully a bit smarter this time around as I stuck my foot in the way.

"We need to talk Chris." My confidence began to grow.

"Not now Tess." His stare hardened.

"When, next year? Now seems good."

He just turned and walked into the room. Sighing, I followed him in, catching sight of Low Ki and Elix Skipper. The two men must have caught on as they smiled and left the room quickly. I internally thanked them as I tried to muster up the courage to break the ice.

"Just go away Tess, I don't want to deal with you right now." He sat on a bench and began doing up his wrestling boots.

"Well sorry but your gonna have to deal with this right now." I stood my ground as I stood in the middle of the room.

He didn't look up as he tried his best to ignore me. I felt a surge of anger run through me. I had gone 2 weeks not knowing where this was going. I spent 2 weeks worrying and depressed because this man in front of me thought it was a good idea to ignore and avoid me just because he didn't want to 'deal' with the situation. Well I've had enough!

"Damnit Chris!" I exclaimed. "Just look at me!"

Chris didn't however. He just laced up his boots as if I wasn't even there. That just made me angrier.

"How the hell do you expect this to end if you ignore me all the time? I'm trying to be mature and fix this and all you're doing is avoiding me. I've had just about enough Chris. I'm a human being, I make mistakes. I'm sorry I was going on and on about AJ, but he's my best friend. He was the first person I met here in TNA that didn't give a crap about my last name. He's been through a lot with me and I don't want to lose that. I'm sorry if I obsessed over that and hurt you or anything."

That caught his attention. If it was possible, his glare intensified as he stood up and strode over to me. He towered above me, in an attempt to intimidate me I'm sure. However, I've gone through a lot of things with this man, and nothing he could do would intimidate me.

"Do you seriously think I'm angry over Styles?" he snapped.

"Well…partly?"

"You're an idiot Tess." His teeth gritted together. "It pissed me off but I get it. Your friends, whatever. I don't give a shit."

"Okay, well, then I'm sorry about being a bitch and not caring about the fact that you care about me and don't want me to get hurt."

He snorted. "That isn't even close."

My mouth gaped open. If it wasn't one of those two reasons, than what in the world is he being all angry about?

"You don't even know why I'm angry." Chris shook his head, his anger and frustration apparent.

"Well…I…er…" I ran a hand through my dark hair. I was stuck. I had no idea why he was angry at me. I figured the two obvious reasons would be it. But of course my luck was never that great.

"I'm not going to waste my time if you don't even get it." He went to move around me to leave the room.

However, I swiftly shot in front of the door, not letting him walk away from this. I was going to get to the bottom of this if it was the last thing I did.

"You can't just walk away from this Chris. Okay I don't get why you're mad at me, so just tell me what the hell is going on then!"

"Figure it out." He stated simply.

I crossed my arms. "I'm getting tired of this. I'm getting tired of being depressed all the time because I don't know if I have a boyfriend anymore. I hate going out and seeing everyone be so happy when I feel anything but that. Give me something Chris, anything. I just can't do this anymore!"

He moved his head to the side, his glare being shot at the wall instead of at me. I was frustrated at his lack of trying. My hope of us working out was just about gone. I was growing tired of fighting him. If he didn't do something soon I was going to give up. Maybe we just weren't meant to be together.

"Chris please!" I pleaded with him. "I love you, I love you so much! But I can't take this. I can't do this emotionally or physically anymore. It hurts so much not to know if you love me back or not. I spent a week in a room by myself without my friends because I couldn't even muster up a smile. I can't be happy knowing you hate me."

"I can't do this right now." Was all Chris mumbled in response.

"Do you even want to do this at all Chris? Why don't we just end it now and get it over with."

Chris' head whipped back, his eyes surprised at what I had just suggested.

"Did you know that I had the greatest week of my life? It was the first time I was happy in a very long time. And I couldn't even tell you about it. I couldn't experience my first Independent show with you because you were off brooding and not giving a damn that I was hurting. I want someone I can share it all with. Everything is starting to go off in different directions, in a good way, and I really want you to be a part of that…but maybe your not supposed to. Maybe this is just fate telling us we shouldn't be together."

"Tess…"

"I so badly want that feeling, the same feeling my sister had when she married Paul. I desperately wanted you so be the one, the one I would spend the rest of my life with. But…"

I felt a lump rise in my throat as tears sprang to my eyes. I knew the moment I walked into that room that I was about to do this. I think I had known this was coming for awhile now, and just didn't want to face reality. We hadn't been the same since I had returned, and I knew I couldn't continue this way. Right now I just needed someone who could understand and love me. While I would always love Chris and have a special place in my heart for him, I knew at that moment that he wasn't the one. He wasn't the one I was going to have that fairytale ending with. And in some capacity, I think I was okay with that. It hurt and tore my heart into a million pieces, but there was a part of me saying that it would all be okay, that I could move on and be happy.

"But maybe your not the one." A tear fell down my cheek. "I love you, I always will love you, but I can't do this Chris. Clearly this is fate saying we aren't supposed to be together. I want to be happy. Right now that's all I need, and I can't be that when I'm trying to figure this all out."

"So that's it? We're done?"

I bit my lip as I nodded. The tears began to spill down my cheeks but I just ignored them. Chris sighed but pulled me into a tight embrace. By the look in his eyes, I think he felt the same way. It was a hard thing to process as we had put a lot into this relationship and now it was ending.

I held onto Chris tightly, a small part of me not wanting to let go. But that's exactly what I had to do.

I had to let go.

* * *

**A/N:** I actually sorta wanna cry! they're broken up, its like the end of an era! okay well not really, but still. wow. it was so sad to write, mostly just due to the fact that i still remembered the day i decided to have them kiss to stir up the pot. and it certainly did. It's been a nice ride Tess/Daniels, but unfortuantely it's the end of the road...your the weakest link...goodbye...

cough...ahem...moving on...i just spent ten minutes of my life freaking out over a spider at 3:30 in the morning lol...then i killed it quite cruelly....and then i got a sprite cuz im hyper....and mental....yeah....haha.....oh, has anyone seen The Real Housewives of New York City...or True Blood? Both are amazing shoes....the latter cuz of hottness, and the first cuz i love the drama lol. anyways, off to the next chapter!


	111. Chapter One Hundred and Ten

**Chapter 110:**

I left Chris' locker room an hour later feeling a little less heavier emotional wise. There were still the few tears that wouldn't stop, but for the most part I felt better. We talked for a bit, but mostly we just sat there with each other. It would be the last time we would really be close, and I think for both of our sakes we just needed those moments together. I knew I would never regret being with Chris, as he had been a strong force in my life. But it was time to move on; it was time to embark on a different journey in my life. And in some aspect, I was sort of excited. I knew a lot of great things were about to happen with PWG and the prospect of wrestling in ROH, and I was excited to move on to that aspect of my life.

"Yo babe!" I stopped as I heard Alex's voice. I looked up to see him leaving Team Canada's locker room, his camera attached to his belt buckle. He stopped short as he saw my face, a frown settling on his lips. "What happened?"

"We broke up." I replied softly

"Shit." His eyes widened, hurrying over to me and scooping me up in a tight hug. "What happened sweetie?"

"I just couldn't do it anymore Alex." I dug my head into his chest, feeling comfort in his arms being around me. "He just wasn't the one."

"I'm sorry babe." He kissed the top of my head. "I'm sorry it had to go like that."

"Had to end some time." I sniffed, pulling myself back a bit to look up into his warm brown eyes. "It just didn't feel right anymore."

He brushed a tear away. "Are you gonna be okay?"

I shrugged. "I think so. Maybe. I'd like to just kick someone's ass and get out of here to be honest."

"Understandable." He nodded. "How about you, me, Sabin and Austin go hit the town tonight? We'll get your mind off it all."

"I'd like that." I forced a smile.

"Good, just no more tears alright? Apparently I don't like to see you cry." He smiled down at me. "Come on, lets go kick Gail Kim's ass alright?"

I nodded as he wrapped an arm around me and pulled me in the direction of the women's locker room. As we arrived, Alex promised to meet me at the tunnel, declaring that the Motor City Machine Guns needed an honorary Gun. I smiled slightly as he waved and walked off. I really appreciated the friendship that we had. I don't think I'd be able to go through any of this without him right now. I turned towards the door and opened it, walking into the room. I was shocked however to find that none of the knockouts were in the room, but instead, AJ Styles. He sat alone in the room, next to where my bag was settled. He glanced up as I closed the door behind me, his blue eyes showing guilt.

"Tess," He immediately stood. "I'm sorry. I'm an ass."

I just stood there looking at him. I don't know why, but for some reason I just broke down. I raised my hands to my face, trying to cover the tears that were now flowing down my face.

"Tess? What happened?" AJ came over, taking my hands and lowering them. "What's going on sweetie?"

"Chris and I broke up." I choked out.

"I'll kill him!" AJ growled.

"I broke up with him. Well it was mutual I guess." I sniffed, trying to stop the tears. I thought I had gone through the crying stage, but the emotions were clearly still fresh.

"Oh I'm sorry." He pulled me into a hug. "I'm sorry I was a jack ass. I didn't mean to push you away. I just…Why did you break up?"

"Just wasn't right." I wiped away the tears that I could. "He just wasn't the one."

"Sorry to hear that." AJ ran a hand through his hair. "Could we talk maybe?"

I cocked my head to the side. "I have to get ready for my match, but yeah I guess."

He took me by the hand and pulled me towards the bench. As we sat down beside each other he wiped away the remains of my tears and smiled his traditional smile.

"I know I pushed myself on you, and I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. I guess I just held in my feelings towards you for so long that I let them out in the wrong way." He admitted, shooting me a guilty look. "I really do like you Tess. I love you. And those feelings aren't going to go away."

The moment he opened his mouth I had a feeling this conversation wasn't going to go a way I would enjoy. Deep down I knew where he was going to go with this, and I hated him for it. I just broke up with my boyfriend, and he had to go and talk about this. I tried to busy myself with getting my ring attire and changing. But that didn't stop him from letting every detail about his feelings out. I was leaning against the bathroom door; my eyes closed tightly wishing he would just disappear when he said the one thing that drove my anger out.

"I know you and Chris just broke up, but maybe it's a good thing. Maybe we could…you know…try and see. Maybe this was supposed to happen so we could be together."

My eyes popped open, a dark look crossing my face. I swung the door open and glared at the southern man.

"You've got to be kidding me AJ."

"What?" he looked at me confused.

"You're unbelievable." I brushed past him and dumped my clothes into my bag.

"What's wrong?"

"I can't deal with this." I just walked out of the room.

I growled in frustration as he followed. He just didn't understand that asking me out right after I broke up with the man I loved wasn't really the best idea. And he just wouldn't let it drop. He jogged up beside me and tried to reason with the idea of us. After five minutes, and only a hallway separating me and the face tunnel, I had to stop the charade.

"AJ!" I exclaimed as I stopped and turned to him. "Stop it!"

"Stop what?"

"Stop this, trying to push yourself on me _again!_" I threw my hands us. "I'm sorry AJ, but I don't feel that way towards you. I love you, but like a brother. You're my best friend and I wouldn't even try and ruin that for the world. Even if I did like you, and I'm sorry, I don't, but even if I did it's definitely not the right time to bring this all up. I just broke up with Chris. That was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do, and you think it's perfectly fine to just ask me out!"

"I thought I would just go for it." AJ shrugged, not fully understanding the situation.

"AJ!" I growled. "Listen to me carefully. I. Do. Not. Like. You. I'm sorry, but it's the truth. I want us to be friends. But that's it."

"But Tess, just think about it…" he pleaded.

"I can't do this right now AJ, I have a match. And I won't feel any different afterwards. I'm sorry AJ, but get over it. I don't like you. Please just stop this."

"But…"

"No AJ!" I held up a hand. "I have to go. Please stop."

I turned to walk around a corner, but was almost afraid that AJ would follow me. After a moment though, he stopped, allowing me to make it to the tunnel in peace.

"Hey babe." Alex and Chris greeted me, twin smiles on their faces.

"How you doing Hun?" Chris laid a hand on my shoulder.

"I'm going to kill AJ Styles, but other than that I'm doing the best that I can at the moment."

"What did he do?" Alex questioned.

"I don't want to talk about it right now." I shook my head as my music blasted on. "Let's just go."

* * *

_**POV OFF**_

* * *

"Its unfortunate isn't it?"

AJ twisted around, a hurt expression on his face as he turned to see CM Punk standing there with a large smirk on his face.

"What do you want Punk?" AJ growled.

"It's unfortunate isn't it?" Punk repeated, taking a step forward. "That she can't see how much you care for her."

"You don't know what you're talking about." AJ guarded himself.

"I don't? Well I can clearly see that she hurt you. All you've done is care for her, given her everything that you can. And what does she do? She just rips your heart out. Heartless Bitch if you ask me."

"No one's asking you." AJ glared.

Punk snickered. "I loved someone like her before. But she was the same way. Didn't care about anyone but herself. She was a bitch, wouldn't give me the time of day. She would laugh at me for liking her. Exactly like McMahon is doing towards you."

"Shut the fuck up Punk."

"I'm just speaking the truth Styles." Punk took another step forwards. "Know what I did to that bitch?"

"I don't care." AJ clenched his fists tightly.

"I got even. She broke my heart, so I broke hers." Punk's smirk turned wicked. "Your heart's broken isn't it Styles? It feels like she ripped it out by her bare hands and stomped all over it. Doesn't it?"

AJ looked away. He wouldn't admit that he was right, he had too much pride.

"You know I'm right. You know she hurt you to a point that you just can't let go. So get even Styles. Get her back. Hurt her like she hurt you."

"I would never do that to her."

Punk just snorted. "You did it to her once before Styles. Where's the man in you? She kicked you in the balls; she tried to take away everything from you. Take it back. Make her pay for what she's done."

AJ's face hardened. He wouldn't accept what Punk was saying. Though there was a small part of him, a part he tried to ignore, that knew that everything Punk was saying was true.

"You can do it Styles. She went out with you enemy. She left you behind. She went out with Daniels, fell in love with him. That should have been you. You were there for her, not him He didn't care. But you did. You cared more than anyone. More than her friends, more than Shelley, more than them all. But she doesn't care about you. She just kicked you to the curb. She just broke your heart. What are you going to do about that?"

He hated that what Punk was saying was getting to him. AJ didn't want to admit that his heart was indeed broken. He didn't want to accept the fact that he was hurt and all he wanted to do was get revenge. Punk was right; she fell for the one person he couldn't stand. He had been the one who had always been there for her, not Daniels. And yet she didn't give a damn about him. She didn't care at all for AJ. She just cared about Daniels, who didn't feel the same way back. He poured his heart out to her, twice. But both times she shot him down. She ripped his heart out and tore it apart before his eyes. He didn't want to, but he wanted to do the same towards her. He wanted her to feel the pain he was going through. He wanted her to feel the heart ache he was now forced to feel.

"What are you going to do Styles?"

AJ looked over at Punk, a blazing look in his eyes.

"Get revenge."

* * *

**A/N:** Holy Shit! AJ Styles is a very naughty boy! damn that evil Punk for getting to him!

I admit, i actually had this finished at 5am this morning....was gonna post it....but then fell asleep....but i'm posting it now, so yay! oh, and i just realized that i've almost have 500 reviews....thats just crazy......i can't believe that people have taken to this story like they have. I thank everyone for reading, and to those that review. I wouldn't have come this far if it wasn't for you all. So thanks for all the support :)


	112. Chapter One Hundred and Eleven

**Chapter 111:**

"Your winner, and new TNA Knockout Champion, Tess McMahon!"

I grinned as I held onto the title tightly. Alex and Chris were celebrating beside me in the ring as Gail Kim was helped to the back by the referee. I was ecstatic. The match was a tough one, with Cabana and Corino trying to interfere. Thankfully Alex and Chris were on their game tonight and countered the two before they could do very much. That just left Gail Kim and me on the same level. But I had something she didn't. I had determination. I had been stripped of this title because of what Punk did to me. But it was finally back in my hands. It was a wonderful feeling, to have this gold belt back. Today had brought on a lot of things, mostly negative. But this…this made everything worth it.

"Congrats babe." Alex put an arm around my waist and helped me to my feet. "At least something good came of today."

I just grinned in response as he pulled the title around my waist before he and Chris held my arms up in victory. It felt like such a rush to have the title back around waist, to have all of these fans cheering me. It was almost as exciting at it was last weekend. While nothing could come close to my experience at PWG, this was coming pretty damn close.

"We're proud of…" Chris was cut short however as CM Punk's music began.

I groaned. Of course he would try and ruin this moment. I was naïve to think I could walk in here and just win without some sort of consequence. My fists clenched tightly as Alex and Chris pushed me behind them. They looked ready to pounce at whoever would come out. But that's the thing, no one came out. We looked around in confusion, as did the fans in attendance. The music stopped, absolutely nothing happening. I knew it was too good to be true though. I knew Punk was up to something, I just didn't know what.

"What's he playing at?" Chris shot the question at Alex.

"I have a feeling this isn't going to be good." Was all he responded with.

And he would be correct. Out of nowhere Cabana and Corino shot into the ring behind us, immediately knocking Alex and Chris down with chairs. My eyes widened as Punk came out of the crowd and slipped into the ring. Cabana and Corino were pulling Alex and Chris out of the ring, beating on them on the outside. Punk and I stood across from one another, his cruel wicked look staring into my angry one. I wanted to attack the man, make him feel what he had done to me months before. But I knew he wouldn't be here alone for much longer. One wrong move and all of Punk's men would be down here.

As Punk took a step towards me, I stepped back. While I wanted more than nothing to just hit him, I knew this wasn't the time. Not now, not like this. He wasn't going to taint my title win. He took another step forward, but before I could back up I felt someone slip into the ring behind me. A hand lay on my elbow, a shock running through me as AJ stood protectively beside me. I sighed in relief. It was nice to see that while I had to reject his feelings, he would still be here for me. I shot him an appreciate look before glaring back at Punk. But something was off. Punk didn't look worried. He looked the opposite. He looked happy. Amused even. I was confused. Why did he have that look on his face? Why did he look like Christmas had just come early?

"I'm sorry Tess." I heard AJ whisper to me.

An eyebrow raised as my heart began to beat faster. Why was he apologizing? He had done nothing wrong. He wouldn't be apologizing for earlier, it wasn't the time or place for that. So why was he apologizing? I turned to question him, but was shocked to see something I wished I hadn't. This wasn't the AJ Styles I had met a year ago. Those blue eyes weren't the eyes that had comforted me when I was upset. This wasn't the AJ Styles I was best friends. This was an AJ Styles that looked like he was going to do something I would never have expected.

Before I even had time to react, AJ pushed me towards Punk. He grabbed me around the shoulders as a chair was pushed into the ring from the outside. My eyes were wide as AJ picked the steel chair up, his cold eyes never leaving mine. I pleaded with him, begged him not to do this. But nothing seemed to register for him. He ignored my pleas as he took a final step forward. I could feel the tears in my eyes as he raised the chair.

"AJ, please, don't do this." I whispered the plea, wishing that somehow it would get through to him.

But those eyes…those eyes were anything but generous and kind. This was not the man I had trusted my life with. This was a new man, a man stone cold on revenge.

* * *

**_POV OFF_**

* * *

"How's she doing?" Devon asked as Terry left Tess' room.

"She's doing the same."

Terry sighed as he sat on the couch in the apartment, an exhausted look on his face. He glanced around the crowded room. It seemed everyone and anyone was here. Beside him on the couch were the Dudley's, while Jay, Jeff, and Adam sat on the opposite couch. Raven stood in the corner, trying to avoid contact with anyone. Members of Team Canada were chatting over in the kitchen, while Shelley and Sabin were standing awkwardly in the hallway. A few others had come and gone throughout the past few hours, checking up on the unconscious woman before leaving again. The one person Terry was shocked to see not there was Daniels.

"I just can't believe AJ." Jay shook his head in disbelief. "I mean was he hurt that much by Tess rejecting him that he had to do that? Join Punk of all things."

"You just don't do things like that." Jeff's face was dark in anger. "I want to kill him for what he did."

"I'll help." Ray cracked a knuckle.

"I think we all want a piece of that jackass." Adam growled. "He's got another thing coming if he doesn't think we're going to get revenge for this."

"Just think of poor Tess though." Jay's face fell. "This must be heart breaking for her."

"Speaking of which, why isn't Daniels here?" Devon looked around. "I thought he'd want to be here."

"They broke up." Alex spoke up as he and Chris walked further into the room. "Just a bit before her match."

"He did…"

"It was more mutual." Alex shrugged.

"So she still wasn't even in the best emotional place when Styles did that." Jay sighed. "I cannot imagine how this is going to affect her."

"And she was just so happy the other day too." Terry commented. "Ever since you brought her back from California Shelley, she's been cheerful. First time in a long time."

"Which is what I wanted to bring up." Alex ran a hand through his dark hair. "I just got a call from Austin and he said ROH wants to book her for their shows this weekend. I think it'd be a good thing if we take her up there. Get her away from things for a bit."

"Doesn't Punk and them work for ROH though?" Adam questioned.

"Cabana and the Embassy only. Cabana isn't booked. So it's just Rave, and he knows not to mess around with anyone at ROH." Alex answered.

"I don't know…I just don't want her to get hurt." Jeff felt unsure of the suggestion.

"She was happy though after coming back from PWG." Ray reminded everyone. "She needs something in her life that will make her happy. So if going to ROH will do that then we should be supportive."

Jeff shrugged, clearly not liking the idea.

"What do you think Terry?" Jay asked.

It was a silent knowledge that Terry was the father of their group, and more importantly a father figure to Tess. If Terry didn't approve, they would all follow suit. He was the most protective of them all, the one who was probably having the hardest time watching Tess go through this ordeal.

"I think you should take her Shelley." Terry agreed. "But you watch out for her. If one thing happens to that girl…"

"I know, I know." Alex held up his hands. "You'll kill me with your bare hands. Believe me; I wouldn't let her get hurt. I care about her too you know."

"Well glad we have the weekend covered, what about the tapings tomorrow?" Scott walked in from the kitchen, the rest of Team Canada following behind him. "We need a game plan for what's going to happen."

"I want that scum bag Styles in a match." Ray announced.

"Maybe you two should just keep your eye set on your titles." Adam suggested. "AMW are looking for blood after you beat them again tonight. You may just have your hands full with them."

Ray frowned but nodded. He knew Adam was correct, but he still couldn't help the want and need to break every single bone in AJ Styles' body.

"I've already talked with management and I got Styles in a four way for the X title with Shelley, Sabin, and Petey." Scott announced. "And if he makes it to the second taping, Jeff, I got you a match with him."

Jeff smirked as he sat back with a satisfied look on his face.

"How exactly did you manage that D'Amore?" Terry questioned.

"I have my ways."

* * *

**A/N: **:( sadness evil AJ hurt poor Tess. how awful. first breaking up with Daniels, and now this. i'm just so evil huh?


	113. Chapter One Hundred and Twelve

**Chapter 112:**

"Alex I don't want to do this." I mumbled as Alex drove.

"Well there's multiple states in between us and Florida right now so you're pretty much stuck babe." Alex chuckled from the front seat.

Chris leaned over from the passenger seat and slapped him over the head before sending me a warm smile. "It'll be fun, I promise."

"I'm not in the mood for fun." I crossed my arms and gazed out the window at the passing scenery. "I just want to curl up and die."

"Don't go emo on us please."

"Shut up dude." Chris shot Alex a dark look.

"Look babe," Alex scratched the back of his head. "I know you're in a lot of pain right now from what happened at the PPV. I get that. I don't know exactly what you're going through, but I know it's hard. But you can't just push everything and everyone away."

"Why not? Everyone I care about just ends up back stabbing me anyways." I justified with a frown, pleading with myself to not let the tears fall. It seems that's all I've been doing lately, crying. I was getting tired of it, but I couldn't stop. I couldn't stop the pain and hurt. I couldn't stop the lifeless feelings that were running through me. My life was falling apart right in front of me and I couldn't do anything about it.

"AJ's a jackass; he wasn't a true friend if he couldn't handle the rejection and instead hurt you like he did." Alex glanced back through the rearview mirror, a sympathetic look on his face. "I care a lot about you Tess. And I hate seeing you like this."

"Yeah well get used to it." I just muttered in response, brushing away a tear that escaped.

"Alex and I…we're here for you." Chris turned in his seat. "And I know we may not know you as well as some of the other guys, but we do care about you and we'd do just about anything for you. Bringing you up here, we just want to get you away from everything. You deserve to at least smile."

I felt touched that they cared so much to do this. It wasn't like I didn't appreciate Austin going to such lengths to get me on the ROH shows this weekend. And it wasn't like I didn't absolutely love Alex and Chris for taking time out of their busy lives to drive all the way up across the country just for me. I really did appreciate everything. I couldn't imagine having any one but them here with me right now. I just couldn't get what happened on Sunday out of my mind. It was like a video tape constantly playing. All I wanted to do was press stop and make it all go away. But it just kept repeating and repeating. The tapings wasn't any better as they gloated and boasted about what had happened. I was barely able to get through an hour of the tapings before I broke down and had to leave early. The last few days had been terrible. I loved my friends, and I knew they just wanted to help me through this, but they were driving me insane. Every minute of the day it seemed someone else was walking through the apartment checking up on me. I wasn't about to do something stupid. I just needed to be alone. I just needed to get through this without the constant parenting from my friends. That was half the reason I was so hesitant on coming on this trip. While I knew Alex and Chris weren't ones to treat me that way, I couldn't help but wonder if one of the only reasons they were doing this with me was to make the others happy.

"So where exactly are we?" Alex asked.

"You're the one driving dude." Chris sent him a look. "Shouldn't you know?"

"Dude, you've known me for like ever, I have the worst sense of direction."

"God remind me never to get in a car with you again." Chris groaned, shooting a glance back at me. "We're flying back I swear. I won't put you through this again. The man is a friggin idiot. I apologize."

I couldn't help but laugh. Life may have been at a standpoint at the moment, but I knew I could count on these two to make me laugh. While all I wanted to do was curl up in bed and never leave my room for weeks on end, I felt a touch happy that I had agreed to come along, just for their antics alone.

"Alright, well, if your done being rude." Alex glared at Chris. "I could use some help. I think I got us lost."

I snorted before gazing out the window. A smile began plastering on my face as the familiar scenery came into view.

"Get off at the next exit." I sat forward to direct him, a grin on my face.

"Are you getting us more lost?" Chris looked unsure.

"No Chris, I actually no where I'm going unlike this guy here." I slapped Alex over the head. "Anyone have a phone I can use, mines in the back."

Chris raised an eyebrow but passed back his phone.

"Make sure to get off the exit and then turn left." I reminded Alex before settling back and punching in the familiar phone number.

"Hello?" a strong southern accent greeted.

"MATTY!" I couldn't help the excitement in my voice. I hadn't seen or spoke to the brother of my own housemate, and my close friend, since before I had gone back to Orlando. Matt Hardy, much like Jeff, felt like family to me. Before TNA, I was always over at their houses or finding an excuse to be around the two Hardy's. They were the crazy brothers I wished I always had. In a way Alex and Chris reminded me of them. Matt and Jeff were always able to make me laugh, able to make me smile even though all I wanted to do was wallow in self pity. They were two crazy individuals who would go against all odds to get what they wanted. I loved that about them. They pushed me to the limit and I couldn't ask for two better friends. I would do absolutely anything for either of them, and knew they would do the same for me.

"Tess? Is that you?" Matt seemed surprised to hear from me.

"The one and only." My eyes sparked. "Are you home?"

"Yeah…we don't have a show till Sat so a bunch of guys are hanging out before we leave tomorrow afternoon. Why?"

"Well…." I smirked as I paused, knowing I would be annoying the North Carolina Native by dragging it out. "We're passing through and I thought we'd maybe pop in."

"Get your ass over here or I'll find you and kick it." He threatened.

"Yes sir." I laughed. "We'd probably be close if Alex wasn't an idiot and followed directions."

"Alex…?"

"Shelley. Him and Chris Sabin are taking me up to an ROH show this weekend."

"Are you going all Indy on me?" he chuckled.

"You've been there; you know how awesome it is."

"Too true. Well get your ass over here and you can tell me about it all, alright babe?"

My grin widened. "Alright, we'll be there soon. Alex is finally listening to me. Expect us in a few."

"I'll be waiting."

We said our goodbyes before I handed the phone back off to Chris who had a confused look on his face.

"We're going to Matt Hardy's" I explained. "Since Alex is an idiot and almost got us lost, and we've been on the road for over 8 hours, we need a place to crash. And I haven't seen him in awhile. And I really need to see someone who isn't going to randomly stab me in the back."

"Well if it'll keep that smile on your face, put it into high gear Shelley." Chris grinned back at me. "I like seeing you happy, makes me not want to turn emo."

"I was just getting used to the idea though!" Alex whined.

"Oh just drive you idiot." I hit his shoulder. "We're almost there."

"Well just shout out where to go when we get there."

"Uh…wait for it…wait…aha! There, turn! Turn! Alex turn!"

"Sheesh woman I'm going." Alex looked back to give me a glare which only resulted in him getting hit for not watching the road.

"Nice place." Chris gazed through the window at the large white house in front of us.

I grinned as Alex parked in the long driveway behind a familiar car. I quickly shot out of the car, completely forgetting about the other two, and ran towards the house. My feet didn't even hit the front porch before the front door was ripped open and I was pulled into a massive hug from Matt. I held onto him tightly as he twirled me around.

"God I've missed you sweetie." He whispered in my ear as he set me back on my feet. "I won't ask how ya been considering certain assholes, but other than that…"

"Better now." I grinned brightly. "God have you gotten taller?"

"No. but you've shrunk." He patted my head with a snicker. "If you shrink anymore you'll disappear."

"Oh shut up." I nudged him playfully. "So on the phone you said a bunch of the guys were…"

"TESSY!"

"You could have warned me one was John." I groaned before I was tackled to the ground, John straddling me with a rather large grin. "Get off of me fatty."

"I'm not fat." He defended. "What are you doing here?"

"We were driving through and thought we'd say hello. But I'll leave if you don't get off."

"Well how can you leave if your under me?" he smirked.

"I'll knee you in the balls." I threatened.

John weighed the options, his face completely serious, before shrugging. "Fine, you win, but only because I know you would."

I snickered as Matt helped me up to my feet. It was then I realized I had completely forgotten about Alex and Chris. I turned to see the two standing by the car, looking extremely awkward. I waved them over, wanting everyone to meet.

"Matty, Johnny, this is Alex and Chris. Boys, Matty and Johnny. " I introduced

"Nice to meet you." Chris smiled.

"You too." Matt shook both their hands.

John however eyed Alex carefully. I had forgotten that the last time John was down in Florida Alex wasn't exactly one of my favorite people in the world.

"Johnny, stop with the look. He's a good guy." I shot John a look. "He's not the jackass he was back then."

"Hey!" Alex pouted. "I was threatened!"

"Sure sweetie." I rolled my eyes, though a smirk playing on my lips. "So are we all good Johnny?"

"Yeah yeah." He nodded, though he still looked a bit unsure.

I ignored it however as I grabbed onto Matty and dragged him inside his house.

"So I don't wanna impose, but could we crash here tonight? We've been driving for over 8 hours and I'm exhausted. And we still have like 9 left to go!"

"You don't even have to ask." He threw his arm around me. "You can take Jeff's room and Shelley and Sabin can take the double guestroom."

"You mean the den you just threw a random bed into." A familiar voice came from the living room that was adjacent to the front hall.

I just about threw myself at the man. "Jerky!"

Chris Jericho laughed as he held me tightly. "Good to see you too Tess."

"How are you doing?" I asked him, looking him up and down. "You cut your hair!"

He chuckled. "Yeah, thought I'd join the 21st century. Hardy still thinks it's in."

I laughed as I ran a hand through his now short blonde hair. "I like it. Very suiting for ya."

"Thanks babe." His smile grew. "I would have gone out there to greet you, but fucking Cena body checked me just to see you." Jericho shot John a glare. "But I figured you'd give me a much nicer hello than for him if I just waited."

"So right." I hugged him again, sticking my tongue out at John over his shoulder. John just pouted in response. Laughing, I pulled back from the blonde Canadian. "So are you two spending the night?"

"I'm not. I have a late flight tonight to head to the Raw house show tomorrow." John answered, "And I actually have to leave soon. You came at the right time."

"No! I want more time with my Johnny." I frowned.

"Ah don't worry, I'll spend the next hour all over ya." He pulled at my waist, pulling me closer.

Matt rolled his eyes. "Are you three hungry, I was just about to throw some burgers on the grill before you called."

"Food sounds awesome." I nodded, glancing back at Alex and Chris who still looked completely awkward. The poor boys didn't know what to do with themselves. If I didn't know better, I swore Alex looked a little worried. Though I suppose being in a house with three of my best friends who knew of Alex's ways before he turned all nice and friendly, probably didn't settle right. Pulling myself from John, I skipped over to him and curled my arm around one of his. I waited until Matt headed into the kitchen, Jericho and John following behind, before assuring him. "They won't bite Alex. Not with me around anyways."

Alex just continued to frown.

"I'm just star struck to be honest." Chris laughed lightly. "We just started getting close so I haven't exactly been used to the whole WWE friends thing. I mean dude, Chris Jericho was standing in the same room as us."

I snorted. "That was absolutely the best thing I've heard all day."

"Shut up" he blushed, feeling embarrassed.

"Aw, don't worry Chrissy, I won't tell anyone."

"You better not."

I smiled innocently for a moment before a wicked smirk appeared. Chris' face fell as I let go of Alex's arm and quickly shot towards the kitchen.

"Jerky, guess what!"

* * *

**A/N:** It took about 6 different versions, countless hours, and lots of drugs to finally get this done. I'm sick as a dog, getting sicker, and up at 4 in the morning all because my brain wouldn't let me sleep until this chapter was just about perfect lol. hopefully it turned out well as its late and who knows what i spelt wrong lol. Though surprisingly i'm not that tired...sorta hyper lol. But yeah, hope you like this chapter.

I did like crazy amount of research for the next set of chapters. First i had to check past ROH results, then i had to see if going to Cameron, NC would be completely possible on the road trip, then i wanted to see how long it would take, blah blah blah. yes, i'm a maniac, i fully admit it. but i'm a dedicated one lol. i have a very strong knowledge of how this story is going to go right now, and as long a i don't stray from the idea, this thing should be moving sports car fast

speaking of sports car....if you havent seen Transformers 2 yet, go! its the bestest movie. it has awesome action, the storyline is fantastic, Shia is hot, and its the funniest thing ever. i was like dying of laughter in the theatre. just purely amazing. probably the best blockbuster hit of the summer, and thats saying something as i loved Wolverine and Star Trek.

oh and just to wrap this long A/N up, i made a new BWAT banner :) featuring CM Punk...unfortunately the text needs fixing so i'll have that up probably later today (you know, when its not 4am lol). anyways, i'm off to start the next chapter cuz who really needs sleep.


	114. Chapter One Hundred and Thirteen

**Chapter 113:**

It was just after midnight when I tiptoed down the stairs of the quiet house. John had left a few hours earlier to catch his plane, and Matt and Chris had both called it an early night as they too were off on the road tomorrow. I knew Alex and Chris and I had to wake up for 6 in the morning, but I just couldn't sleep. I had been lying in bed for an hour and I knew it was useless. I hadn't been able to sleep properly since Sunday Night. It was just too hard. Every time I would close my eyes I would see what had happened. It was just constantly playing. It wouldn't go away. I hated the idea of sleeping because I knew the moment I tried to drift off those images would come back.

"Whoa, babe."

I blinked as I stopped short, not even noticing Alex was just leaving the make shift bedroom/den that he and Chris were staying in for the night. He looked absolutely exhausted. He had refused to let Chris drive at all during the 8 plus hours we had been on the road. I felt terrible that he had to take the burden on. I knew driving that far wasn't easy. And considering we had just done it last week coming back from California, I knew the man had to be beyond exhausted.

"Everything alright?" He raised an eyebrow at me.

I shrugged. I didn't really want to worry him, burdening him even more than I was.

"Couldn't sleep?" he guessed, running a hand over his tired face.

"Kinda." I admitted, bowing my head so my long hair covered my face.

"You haven't slept much lately have you?"

Damn he was good.

"You've been looking exhausted for days." He lifted my chin to look down into my eyes. "What's been going on sweetie?"

"Just having trouble I guess."

"It's the Styles thing isn't it?" he assumed.

I slowly nodded. It's not like it wasn't common knowledge that it was having such an effect on me.

"I'm sorry Hun." Alex gave me a sympathetic smile. "I wish I could take it all away."

"Thanks, but you can't."

"I know." He sighed. "Come on."

I raised an eyebrow as he grabbed my hand and began slowly pulling me into his room. I felt a bit uncomfortable as I spotted Chris laying on the couch, an arm and leg hanging over the side. Though oddly enough, he looked rather peaceful and comfortable in the position.

"He can sleep on anything I swear." Alex whispered with an eye roll. "Lay with me for a bit. Maybe you'll fall asleep if you have someone else with you."

"I don't think it'll work." I shook my head. "And you're tired enough as it is. I don't want to burden you."

"Hey now," he grabbed both my hands and squeezed them. "You are never a burden. Alright? Never. Don't even think you are. I know it's weird and hard to believe considering everything that's gone on between us in the past, but I really do care about you Tess. A lot. Its crazy, but I really do consider you one of my best friends."

I felt touched at his words. "Thanks."

"Now come on. I won't bite." He joked, motioning to the bed. "Not like I'd try anything when those two are in the house."

I knew I had nothing to worry about anyways. Alex Shelley was a perfect gentleman, despite the crude jokes he threw out sometimes. I nodded slowly before getting into the bed, Alex following suit on the other side. I rolled onto my side, my back facing Alex as I tried to find a comfortable position. Alex pulled the sheets over us before scooting over and putting an arm around my waist. He caught my hand in his and squeezed it in comfort.

"I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere. I know when you try and go to sleep your going to think about it all. But I'm right here sweetie. You're in a house full of people that love you, you're safe. No one here is going to hurt you. I'm not going to hurt you."

I almost wanted to cry as he spoke the soothing words into my ear softly. It was so soothing that I actually felt my eyelids begin to droop. I tensed as I knew the images would come as soon as my eyes were closed. And I was correct. The mental tape began to play and the events of Sunday unfolded before me. I winced as I was forced to witness it all again for the hundredth time.

"It's alright sweetie. I'm right here. You can get through this. We'll help you get through this. I'm right here." He held onto my hand tighter.

At every word I felt a little bit stronger. The images began to slowly disappear until finally they were gone.

"Just relax, no ones going to hurt you. I'm here Tess. I'll always be here."

It wasn't long after he spoke those last words that I felt myself drift off to sleep for the first time in days.

* * *

**_POV OFF_**

* * *

Chris stood in the middle of the room, a dilemma unfolding before him. In the bed in front of him were the sleeping figures of his best friend and his newly acquainted friend. They looked utterly peaceful that he didn't want to wake them. He had heard them outside of the room last night. He hadn't fallen asleep yet when Alex brought Tess into their room. He tried not to interfere with Alex's actions. He had a sneaky feeling, as Alex had, that Tess hadn't been sleeping lately. There had been bags under her eyes since the moment they had picked her up at her apartment yesterday morning. She had refused to rest in the car, even though it had been a long drive. There was only one other explanation, and that was confirmed last night. He couldn't imagine how the poor girl was getting through all of this. If someone like Alex did what AJ had done to Tess, Chris wasn't so sure he would be able to get through it all. She had gone through so much since being in TNA, he felt pity towards her. But he wanted to help. He couldn't take seeing her so down and depressed. There was something about her that had drawn him to her back when they had gotten to know one another in California. He felt the same as Alex; she had become a best friend to both the men, a third member to their chaotic friendship. When she was around, all the pieces seemed to fit. It was like she was always meant to be there, even though they had lasted years without her. He enjoyed that, and didn't want that to be ruined.

"Sorry to disturb you, but I wanted to see if you all were up." Matt stuck his head into the room, spotting Chris as well as the sleeping couple in the bed. Matt felt the protectiveness begin to rise as he watched Tess' form move more into Alex's body. Though he couldn't help but smile at the situation. He knew that all Tess needed right now was friends and to be as happy as she could be. And by that look on her face as she slept beside the Detroit Native, she most certainly looked happy.

"I don't have the heart to wake them." Chris ran a hand through his sandy brown hair. "Probably should though, we need to get going soon."

"I packed up food for you guys to take on the road. There's coffee in the kitchen. Go ahead, I'll get them up." Matt offered.

"Thanks." Chris shot him a smile. "Thanks for letting us crash here last night."

"No problem. I'd do anything for that girl. She's like a sister to me." Mat shrugged. It was true, she was family, and family went to any length for one another.

Chris nodded before silently leaving the room. Matt walked further into the den, watching the two sleep. He too almost didn't want to have to wake them up. Both looked so peaceful, especially Tess. But he knew they still had a long day ahead of them before making it to Long Island for their show tonight. He sighed before moving over to Tess' side, figuring she may be the easiest to wake up.

"Tessy? Sweetie? Time to wake up Hun.' He shook her softly.

* * *

**_POV ON_**

* * *

I groaned as I felt a shake to my body. I cracked as eye open to see Matt smiling softly down at me. I groaned again as I attempted to roll over. Only I found that I couldn't, as there was something blocking my way. I cracked both eyes open this time, only to see that I was curled up beside Alex, who had his arms around me and vice versa. The blood rose to my cheeks and I quickly untangled myself from Alex and lifted myself up into a sitting position.

"Morning sleepyhead." Matt greeted. "Sleep well?"

"Shush." I shot him a tired glare. "Not a word, got it?"

"I wouldn't dream of it." He ran a hand across his lips in a zipping motion. "I promise."

"The moment I leave you'll be on the phone to Jeff telling him about this." I grumbled pushing him away so I could stand up.

"You know me far too well." He chuckled.

"Unfortunately." I shot a glance around the room. "Where's Chris?"

"Sent him to grab coffee. I made you guys some food to eat along the way."

"Matty, you didn't have to do that." I hugged him tightly.

"Your like my little sister, of course I had to do that." He replied. "And anyways, you need to head on your way soon and prob won't have to time to eat properly on the road."

"You're like my mother I swear" I laughed lightly. "I should probably wake him up huh?"

"Probably. I'll go get your stuff so you can just head into the car and go back to sleep. Jerky should be up so you can just say goodbye then leave."

I nodded as he ruffled my hair and headed out of the room. Sighing, I turned back towards the bed and watched Alex sleep. I felt the color return to my cheeks as I watched him. His dark hair was back to being short after Chris and I had forced him to cut it in California. His usual dark brown eyes were closed, but a playful smile was on his lips. I couldn't even imagine what the man could possibly be dreaming of. Then I noticed he was shirtless. I had seen him countless times without a shirt on inside the ring and out. But for some reason this time felt different. Maybe it was because I had spent the night beside him, his arms around him. But it looked different. I almost felt embarrassed looking at him like I was. But I felt mesmerized by him. My heart was beating in the oddest ways as my head felt light headed.

I tried my best to shake the weird feelings off as I shook the man awake.

"Alex, wake up." I shook him.

After a few swift hits to his side, his eyes cracked open.

"Five more minutes." He grumbled.

"Come on, you just have to make it to the car I promise." I grabbed his arm and began pulling him up. "Come on Alex, your heavy, I need help here."

"Shuddup." He mumbled as he sleepily stood up, stumbling into me.

I snickered as I helped him to stand. Thankfully Chris chose that moment to appear in the room and was able to help with the tired man.

"Dude, wake up for five minutes." Chris slapped him over the head.

Alex raised a hand tiredly, flipping Chris off. Chris just chuckled as he pushed Alex towards the door and grabbed their overnight bag. Heading out of the room, Matt and Jericho stood by the front door, my stuff at their feet. I hugged both men tightly, not knowing when I would see either of them next.

"Stay in touch babe." Jericho pleaded. "I hate not talking with you."

"I'll try harder I promise." I pecked him quickly on the cheek before moving onto Matt. He pulled me into a tight brotherly embrace. "I love you guys, you know that right."

"We do." Matt nodded. "Be careful babe. And if you need anything, we're here for you."

"We are. If you need us to kill someone, we're there." Chris agreed.

"Or just to talk." Matt rolled his eyes. "We're always here."

"I know. Thanks. Both of you, thanks."

"Go on, you all better head off." Matt nodded towards the door.

I hugged them both quickly again, not wanting to let go. But I unfortunately had to pull back to grab my stuff before following Alex and Chris out of the house. Being here, with Matt, Jericho, and John, I felt happy. I didn't have a care in the world. The hours we had spent laughing last night, it felt so nice compared to the hurt I was feeling for the past few days. I almost wished I could just bring them with me everywhere so I wouldn't have to think about everything. But I couldn't. I had to face this alone. I couldn't rely on them being with me every second of the way, though I'm sure they would damn well try if they could. This was something however, that I knew I had to tackle on my own.

"I'm driving today." Chris pushed Alex down into the back seat, snickering as Alex hit his head.

I stifled a laugh as I climbed into the seat beside Alex, amused at the groans that were coming from the man. Chris rolled his eyes before plopping into the driver's seat and starting the car. I glanced through the window, waving at the two on the porch. I vowed at that moment as Chris pulled from the house onto the road that I would come here more often. It filled a void that I didn't know there was until last night.

"You guys can just sleep. I can amuse myself for a few hours." He smiled back at us.

I nodded as I tried to get comfortable. I was hesitant to try and sleep though; knowing what would happen if I did. I nearly jumped as I felt something grab my hand. I turned my head towards Alex and saw him giving me an encouraging smile. He pulled me towards him, unlatching my seatbelt. I felt a bit uncomfortable as I knew Chris would be watching us. Alex didn't seem to care however as he wrapped an arm around me. I sighed, trying to contemplate if sleeping was really worth it. But after a yawn, I knew I had to sleep, at least for a little bit. I shifted for a moment until I found a comfortable position. My head laid just at the top of Alex' chest, his arm tucked tightly around me. I could feel his chest rise and fall in a soothing motion as he drifted back off to sleep. Again I felt hesitant to, but found myself drifting off anyway. For the first time since Sunday night, the images never came; the reminder never appeared before me. A smile crossed my face as I fell asleep next to Alex.

* * *

**A/N:** w00t! another chapter! this probably would have been done after like a half an hour of the last chapter being posted...but 3/4 of the way through i felt like i was gonna pass out from being so tired so i called it a night lol. But here we are, a nice cute sweet chapter. I almost wanted to cry at how sweet Alex was. actually, it just makes me want to jump him ;) so sexy lol.

anyhoo, hope you enjoy it. next chapter should be the ROH show so that'll be fun.


	115. Chapter One Hundred and Fourteen

**Chapter 114:**

"Excited?" Austin asked as he glanced over at me from where we stood at the back of the building.

I shrugged as I watched the match going on in the ring, a gauntlet series between multiple men. While I was indeed excited to be here, to see first hand what Alex loved so much, I couldn't help but feel somber. I still had the events from Genesis running through my mind constantly. I wished I could just push it back, to concentrate on my match tonight. But I couldn't. I was just far to focused on what AJ had done to think of anything else.

"Tess?" Austin raised an eyebrow. "You alright?"

"Yeah I'm fine. Just thinking." I sighed, trying to shake my thoughts away. "Sorry, not very good company huh?"

"Nah, it's cool. I can understand." He laid a hand on my shoulder. "Do you wanna head to the back?"

"I actually kind of enjoy it." I smiled slightly. I really did enjoy watching the wrestling going on in the ring. It was exciting. I hadn't seen half of the moves these men did, and it was only the first match!

Austin chuckled as he pulled me gently towards a group of chairs nearby. We sat and watched as Nigel entered the match, now wrestling with Jimmy Jacobs. It was an interesting match up between the two. Jimmy and Nigel and two completely different wrestling styles, and it was fun to see how they worked around that. As Nigel picked up the win, I clapped excitedly. If this was what I was getting myself into, I definitely did not regret coming up here.

"Hey guys." Alex slid into a chair beside me, a friendly grin on his face. "Just letting you know Tess that your match is third tonight."

"Thanks." I shot him a smile.

"Having fun sweetie?"

"A lot actually. One match in and I'm in love." I admitted.

Alex laughed as he wrapped an arm around my shoulders. "Glad you do."

As the next match got under way Alex and I slipped backstage, leaving Austin to watch alone. We maneuvered through the hallways, often stopping to meet people here and there. Finally we reached the women's locker room, and with a wave from Alex, I headed in. Daizee Haze looked up and smiled as I entered. She had been the first one I had met backstage when we first arrived. She was coming in just as boys and I were and, just like Candice, we clicked. We talked up until the time of the show starting, when Austin had come to watch the first match with me. I was relieved to know that it was easy for these people to accept me as one of their own.

"Have fun with Austin?"

"Yeah, I can't believe I've never thought of wrestling on the Indy's before. Between PWG and here, my mind is blown." I admitted, grabbing a t-shirt from my bag, a Motor City Machine Gun shirt I had stolen from Chris.

"It is pretty great huh." Daizee nodded as she fixed her attire. "So I thought I should warn you, as you mentioned about Daniels earlier, he is here tonight to wrestle."

I felt oddly okay with that fact. You would have thought I would grow upset and nervous with my ex boyfriend being in the building, but I wasn't. I felt absolutely okay with it. Maybe it was because I knew just how wrong we were for one another, that it didn't bother me. Or possibly it was due to the fact I was so wrapped up with the whole AJ situation, that the break up between Chris and I didn't even register anymore.

Knowing Daizee was expecting a response, I shrugged. "It's fine."

"For someone who just broke up with their boyfriend a week ago, you look oddly calm to have to see him." She mused.

"I think I just have far too much other crap going on to even think about it to be honest."

"Understandable." She nodded, linking arms with me as we headed out of the room. "Well, I have an excellent plan if you'd like to hear it."

"Go on."

"We shall go out tonight, with the girls, no men, and party like its 1995!" Daizee exclaimed, her blue eyes sparkling.

I laughed. "I did party like an animal when I was 8, so I'm totally in!"

Daizee grinned. "Fantastic! It'll be great! I haven't had a girl's night in forever."

"Same here. I'm surrounded by guys far too much."

We continued to chat and laugh as we made it to the curtain and waited for our match. I really liked Daizee, she reminded me a lot of Candice actually, and I had a feeling she would become a pretty good friend in the future. She seemed to understand me quite perfectly and was able to tell exactly what I was thinking by just looking me in the eye. She was upbeat and happy, an excellent personality to go with her name. I just really enjoyed spending time with her.

As Shingo and Mark Briscoe came back through the curtain after their match, Lacey and Allison Danger came up to join us. I felt a brief moment of anger as Danger stood there awkwardly. While I knew it had been months earlier, I still found anger towards the woman that tried to ruin my relationship with Chris. Daizee seemed to notice the tension and lightened the mood with a joke. Before I knew it however, the other girls had already gone out and Alex and Chris were beside me, sending me words of encouragement as we waited for my music to start. The moment it did, Alex and Chris pulled back the black curtain, and I took a step out. The audience cheered loudly as the two accompanied me to the ring.

"Being accompanied by Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin, she hails from Stamford Connecticut, Tess McMahon!"

* * *

I was bouncing up and down as Alex and Chris led me through the halls backstage after the match. I had pulled the upset and had pinned Lacey after an incredible match between the four of us. I was ecstatic to be able to wrestle three other amazing wrestlers. Even Danger was pretty damn great, which was saying something as I had one rather huge vendetta against her. But it was fun, I enjoyed the match.

As we stopped in front of the women's locker room, I leaned up and kissed both men on the cheek. They shot me a surprised look as I grinned.

"Thanks for pushing me to come. You two are really what I needed right about now."

"Aw, babe, that was touching." Alex mocked with a smirk.

Chris rolled his eye as he slapped him over the head. "You're more than welcome sweetie. We'll see you in a bit for our match?"

I nodded before waving and slipping into the locker room. As I did, I realized Daizee and Lacey both hadn't returned yet, and instead, Danger was sitting alone in the room. I frowned as I headed over to my bag and pulled my hair up into a ponytail. I felt Danger's eyes on me so I turned to send her a glare.

"Look, I know you hate me, and you have all the right in the world too, but I want to say I'm sorry." She bit her lip, pushing her dark hair behind her ears. "I never really intended to take D'Amore up on his offer. I hadn't been in love with Chris for a very long time. We weren't right for each other. So I'm sorry if I had any part in breaking you two up."

I felt surprised at her apology.

"And I know it's not any constellation, in case you didn't know about D'Amore's deal or whatever. But it was all AJ Styles' idea. He went to D'Amore and gave him the idea of having me come in and break you and Chris up. I really didn't want to. I know what it's like when there's another woman involved. But…" I could see tears forming in her eyes. "I was broke, and my mother needed surgery. I needed the money. I'm really sorry."

I was touched that she felt the need to explain to me her reasons for doing what she did. And in a way, I think I began to forgive her. Hearing her story, I could begin to understand why exactly she had done that. Just by looking at her face, I could see that she regretted ever agreeing to do it. But I could understand. Money made you do crazy things. That didn't mean you were a bad person. Look at Alex; he turned out to be one of my best friends at the moment. So I couldn't hold it against her. Especially not when she stated that it was AJ's idea to bring her in. D'Amore had come clean to me awhile ago about the events leading up to my kidnapping. I respected his honesty and forgave me. But AJ? God, he was apparently that jealous even back then. I just couldn't understand him. Wasn't a good friend supposed to be happy for you when you were happy? I think I was just beginning to realize just how much AJ wasn't a good friend. Of course that didn't make any of this any easier.

"I forgive you." I found myself telling her, a small smile on my face. "I don't know you personally, so I can't judge you really. But I think I'd like to get to know you. I have a feeling that I'll be back in ROH, I love it here, and I don't want tension or whatever between us."

"I'd really like that." She smiled back. "To a new start?"

I shook her hand, my smile growing. "To a new start."

* * *

**A/N:** So i've had this written for a bit and just totally forgot to post it lol. have some ideas for the next chapter, so it may be up at some point today :)


	116. Chapter One Hundred and Fifteen

**Chapter 115:**

"Why can't we go out with you?" Alex sat on one of the beds in the hotel room that night, a pout on his face.

I rolled my eyes as I began throwing things out of my suitcase, trying to find a suitable outfit for tonight.

"It's a girl's night Alex, last time I checked you weren't a girl."

"Well that's still up in the air really." Chris snickered, walking out of the bathroom, drying himself off from the shower he clearly had just gotten out of. Thankfully he was in gym shorts or else I would have felt a bit embarrassed. I did have to admit though; Chris looked pretty handsome when he had water trickling down his chest.

I immediately blushed at the thought and dug harder through my pile of belongings.

"Wow, now this is nice and sexy." Alex smirked as he held up a pink lace bra.

My face grew beat red as I quickly snatched it from his hands and threw it back into my suitcase.

"Wear that and you'll have guys lining up in no time." Chris high fived Alex.

"I hate you both." I mumbled before grabbing a tight pair of black jeans from the bottom of the bag. I frowned as I tried to search for a top. I apparently brought everything else possible but a good partying outfit.

"I vote for the bra." Alex snickered.

"And I vote I castrate you soon." I shot him a glare.

"Ouch, mean." He pouted. "Come on, anything you wear you'll look hot. Pretty sure it's impossible for you not to look hot."

These two really knew how to get me embarrassed didn't they?

"Aw, you embarrassed her." Chris slapped my ass as he walked by. I snapped up and slapped him over the head before he could get too far though. "Ow, you hurt."

I stuck my tongue out at him before successfully finding a cute enough cami and headed into the bathroom. Alex complained loudly again about not being able to go while I changed, earning a chuckle from me. I was all for hanging with those two day in and day out, I had for the past two days on our road trip. But I think some girl time was what I really needed. All the drama in my life had been surrounding the male gender, so some time with the girls would be much appreciated. And the girls backstage seemed great. Allison was actually a great person once we got to talking. She wasn't the terrible bitch I once thought she was. Lacey was just as nice. A bit of an attitude, but she had a genuine heart, I could see that.

"Daizee just called the room, they're downstairs." Chris knocked on the bathroom door.

"Thanks." I shouted back out to him as I adjusted the magenta cami before heading back out into the room.

I ignored the cat calls and whistles from the boys as I grabbed my cropped leather jacket with ¾ length sleeves and slipped it on over my top. I quickly ran a hand through the soft curls I had done earlier and smiled with satisfaction.

"Have fun tonight." Chris smiled, looking me up and down. "But not too much fun alright? That outfit is…"

"Fucking sexy." Alex's eyes were practically popping out of his head. I couldn't help but giggle at his reaction. It felt nice to know that I could still look good. "I don't think we should let you out into public looking like that."

"Oh let her go." Chris slapped him upside the head.

I rolled my eyes at the two as I dug into my wallet and grabbed my ID and money before slipping it into my bra. I chuckled at the two's response, waving at them as I left the room. I quickly made my way down to the lobby and grinned as I saw the other girls. Daizee looked cute in her dark washed jeans and bright silk tank. Allison was clad in black jeans like myself, with a simple white fitted tank and a dark purple jacket. Lacey was rocking it out in a short skirt and silk cami, and a pair of heels I was surprised she managed to walk in.

"Let's hit the road!" Lacey's eyes lit up.

We laughed before piling into Daizee's car and headed to the club. It was rather easy getting into, the bouncer at the club was gob smacked as we strode up to the place. Once we were inside we ordered a round of shots, starting the night off with a bang. It was a fun evening, I had to admit that. I hardly knew much about the girls before coming out tonight, and it was easy to say I knew probably more about them than I really wanted to. They were three amazing girls though, and I knew I would be returning back to ROH just so we could continue nights like this.

We had been drinking and dancing for a few hours when a group of men walked into the club. Lacey immediately rolled her eyes as she nodded us over to the group of wrestlers from the show. I snickered as I saw Chris and Alex looking over heads to try and spot us.

"So much for a girl's night." Allison laughed.

"Well we had two hours without them." Daizee shrugged. "Should we invite them over?"

"Ick, men suck." Lacey swung back another shot. I think she was the most intoxicated out of the four of us.

"Don't go near Jimmy, he may think he could get lucky tonight." Daizee nudged her.

Lacey pulled a face. "Lets not talk about that again."

"Well at least you don't share an ex." Allison caught my eye and smiled. "Whose currently here and walking over."

My eyes widened. While I hadn't cared that he was wrestling the shows this weekend, that didn't mean I wanted to actually face him.

"Hide me!" I squealed, trying to duck behind Allison, which was incredibly hard when you were sitting in a booth.

"It'll be fine." Daizee assured me. "Hey Chris!"

"Ladies." Chris Daniels nodded at them all. "Tess."

"Hi." I spoke softly, sneaking a glance up at him.

"You were great out there tonight." He flashed a smile.

I was a bit surprised at how well he was taking this. I guess he understood our relationship was just going no where as well. Well I hoped this means we could still stay friends.

"Thanks."

Chris chuckled softly. "I won't ruin your evening, just wanted to say hi."

The girls waved at him as he turned and headed back over to where the guys were situated at the bar.

"That wasn't so bad." Allison laughed at the expression on my face. "I think he was surprised more that we were in the same room together than seeing you."

"Well last time he checked you two hated each other." Lacey pointed out. "Which I'm glad you two don't because four is such a better number than three."

"I totally agree. To the number four!" Daizee raised a shot.

We laughed as we clanked our glasses together and downed our shots. I was finally beginning to feel a buzz when someone interrupted our evening yet again.

"Hello ladies." Austin winked at us all. "Would I be able to steal Ms. McMahon for a dance?"

I raised an eyebrow but nodded. I quickly took my last shot before pushing Allison out of the booth and grabbed Austin's hand. He led me to the middle of the crowded dance floor.

"You look great tonight." He complimented, laying a hand on my waist as Far Away by Nickelback came on.

"Thanks." I wrapped my arms around him and laid my head on his shoulder.

We danced in silence as I watched those around us. I could spot the girls at the back, joking around with a few of the guys that had travelled over. Alex and Chris were goofing off by the bar but stopped when they saw me and waved. I laughed to myself as I stuck my tongue out at them. I felt oddly comfortable in Austin's arm. While I knew there was no romantic chemistry between us, I felt protected when I was around him, as if he was like an older brother. We had grown close since meeting only a few weeks ago.

"So did you have fun tonight?" he asked in my ear.

"Tons." I looked up at him with a grin. "Thanks for getting me booked. I appreciate it."

"No prob sweetie. Cary wants you to come back too. Think you got yourself a new home."

"Great!" my eyes sparkled as I laid my head back on his shoulder.

As I was gazing around the room, my eyes laid on someone I never expected to see here. His blue eyes penetrated through the crowd and right at me. My eyes grew wide as I stumbled back away from Austin. He shot me confused glanced as I paled completely.

"What's wrong, you look like you've seen a ghost." Austin questioned.

All I could do was point through the crowd as AJ Styles stood to the side with Colt Cabana, watching us intently.

* * *

**A/N:** OOOOOOOOOO ONOES!!!! whats going to happen?????????

i got all excited that i just had to write and post this. I'm far too hyper at the moment it's rather scary lol. i also couldn't help writing Chris Sabin half naked after a shower......cuz damn, i'm imagining it right now...and i'm pretty sure i'm drooling all over my laptop lol. expect another chapter soon!!!!


	117. Chapter One Hundred and Sixteen

**Chapter 116:**

Austin followed my gaze and his face immediately grew angry.

"Go over to the girls sweetie." He nudged me softly. "I'm going to go get the guys."

"No, please don't do anything." I grabbed onto his arm and pleaded with him. "Please! You know them; they don't travel in small packs. There could be others. I don't want anyone to get hurt. Please Austin."

He took one look at my pleading face and nodded. "I'm still going to let them know so we can make sure they don't try anything."

I knew that was the best I would get and I quickly turned on my heel and raced back to the girls. The three girls, as well as Jimmy Jacobs and BJ Whitmer looked up in confusion as I slid to a stop before them, panting slightly.

"AJ's here." Was all I could muster out. I had tears threatening to spill already as I said it out loud. Why did he have to be here? Why did he have to ruin this for me?

"Oh no!" Allison's eyes widened. "But he's not even on the shows."

"He must have come with Colt and Rave." Daizee frowned. "Oh I'm sorry sweetie. Should we leave?"

"You guys should." BJ nodded.

I hardly met the man backstage, but I had come to know in the few hours I had been around all of these people, that none of them liked what was happening in TNA right now. I had found a sudden support group I never knew I had, which I appreciated. I knew I could go to ROH or PWG and not have to worry that they would all turn on me like what was happening in TNA right now. But that could all fall into shambles tonight if they tried anything. And if I knew anything about Punk, he enjoyed torturing others. It wouldn't surprise me in the least if he had his goons here to try something with the ROH locker room, to test the waters and see where alliances laid. I was thankful to see that even those who didn't know me very well seemed to lie on my side.

"Come on, we'll take you girls by the bar to the others." Jimmy nodded, helping Lacey up.

The others followed as he quickly made it to the bar. I kept my eye on where AJ and Cabana once stood and fear shot through me. They were no longer there. I tried to locate them again, but the club was just too crowded.

"I'm going to kill him." Alex immediately wrapped his arms around me protectively. "I can't believe he had the nerve to show up!"

"Let's just go." I pleaded with him. I couldn't take this. I couldn't take having AJ here, and now not knowing where they were.

Alex nodded as Chris came up onto my other side and we headed towards the exit of the club. The others seemed to form around us like a shield, and I felt appreciative of their actions. They hardly knew me but they had taken me in as one of their own. I couldn't voice to them how much this meant to me. Once we were safely outside, I let out a sigh of relief. I had managed to get Alex and Chris to let me head back to the hotel with the girls, since they were heading there anyways. They agreed, but only if they could walk us to the car that was around the corner. Most of the others waved and headed to their own vehicle, deciding to just call it a night. However, Jimmy and BJ both followed close behind us, watching every which way.

Unfortunately I had my hopes too high as when we turned the corner, we were met with Cabana, Rave, and AJ standing in front of Daizee's car. I began to tremble as AJ's eyes were instantly on me, penetrating me. Alex held onto me tighter as we slowly approached. Jimmy, BJ, and Chris were standing in front of the girls and Alex and I, looking ready for a fight.

"You shouldn't have come here asshole." Chris directed at AJ angrily, his fists clenched tightly.

AJ just snickered as he took a step forward. "You don't even know her and your defending her?"

"I'm a far better friend to her than you've ever been." Chris' eyes narrowed as he and AJ stared one another down.

Before anyone knew it, Cabana and Rave attacked Jimmy and BJ. I jumped at the sudden action, which only caused Alex to bring me closer. I held onto him like my life depended on it. And for all we knew, it could have. Daizee, Lacey and Allison had sobered up quickly as they made a wall in front of us. Alex tried to coax them back, knowing that even though they were hard fighters in the ring that they couldn't take on the other two men. All we could do was watch as the four men fought, throwing each other into the wall and anything else they could find. At every hit I winced, tears falling down my cheeks. AJ and Chris just stared at one another until Chris slapped the taste out of AJ's mouth. AJ immediately punched him, causing both men to start fighting alongside the other four.

"Shit." Alex breathed, worry in his tone.

We were all so concerned at what was happening in front of us that neither of us paid any attention to the two men slowly coming up behind us. I heard a noise behind me, but as I turned to see what it was, my eyes grew wide. Two arms came out and grabbed onto me roughly. Alex hadn't been paying attention until now and they were able to pull me from Alex's grasp. Alex twisted around, his eyes filled with fear as he went to immediately attack Steve Corino. I struggled against Julio Dinero, who I came to realize was the one holding onto me. I kicked and screamed as much as I could, hoping it would work. However he was too strong and began dragging me away from the group. The girls tried everything they could to help; But Corino had smashed Alex's head against the wall and pushed the girls away. I stared in horror as Alex's body slid to the ground lifelessly.

"Stop it! Stop it!" I begged them all, sobbing as I watched Chris being thrown into Daizee's car roughly, while Jimmy and BJ struggled on the ground, blood pouring down their faces. I saw absolutely no hope whatsoever as Dinero dragged me over to a black car.

No. This couldn't be happening again. They couldn't do this to me. Please god, don't let this happen to me again.

It was as if a miracle happened as a group of ROH wrestlers turned the corner and rushed over to help the others. The Briscoe Brothers immediately attacked Dinero, sending me to the ground. I yelped at the sudden impact, but quickly got to my feet and began backing away from the large fight. I jumped as a hand lay on my shoulder.

"It's just me." Daniels immediately pulled me into a tight embrace. "Its okay, you're safe now."

I sobbed into his chest as I could hear what was happening around me. Why did this have to happen? I just wanted a weekend away from the horror in TNA. But apparently I couldn't even get that. My problems had followed me, letting me know that no matter where I turned, they would always be there haunting me.

"Shh, it's okay Tess." He rubbed my back.

I didn't even care that it was him that was holding me. It was then I remembered Alex. My eyes grew wide as I stood back, looking every which way for Alex's lifeless body. As I searched for him, I could see Styles and Corino hurrying the others into the black car. Within seconds it sped away, leaving the turmoil behind. Spotting Chris kneeling over his friend, I left Daniel's safe arms and raced over to them.

"Oh god Alex." I ran a hand over his pale face. He was loosing blood quickly from his cut. "We have to get him to the hospital!"

* * *

**A/N:** OH NO!!!!!! I couldn't let poor Tess have too much fun without a little drama ;) I'm just pure evil. But hey, I can't be the Queen of Drama without a little drama right? hehehe i'm so hyper right now i'll probably be posting another chapter or two before i go to bed :) yay for cystal light fruit punch and Nickelback!!!!


	118. Chapter One Hundred and Seventeen

**Chapter 117:**

Three hours later we all sat in the Emergency Room waiting area. Every single member of the previous fight had taken up a seat in the waiting room, each looking a little mangled. Daizee was trying to calm Lacey down, who was worried about Jimmy. While she voiced her annoyance about the Detroit man, it was obvious that she cared about him deeply. Allison was on a coffee run with Roderick, who was one of the lucky ones who left without a scratch. Daniels sat beside me, holding my hand tightly. Across from us were the Briscoes who were nursing twin black eyes, but were fine other than that. We were all waiting on news of the four who had been seriously injured. Chris had passed out half way to the hospital, while Alex still hadn't woken up. Jimmy and BJ were conscious once we had arrived, but I knew both were beaten quite badly. I felt Daniels' hand tighten around mine and I sent him a sad look.

"They'll be fine." He assured me, pulling me against him.

I dug my head into his chest, but was unable to cry. I had cried enough in the past few hours that I was exhausted. I sniffed a few times as I tried to find a comfortable position against him. He wrapped his free arm around me, pulling me even closer.

"It's been three hours, why haven't we heard anything?" Austin voiced angrily.

"They're probably just trying to take care of them is all." Samoa Joe offered.

Austin shrugged as he stood, beginning to pace around the room. He was becoming restless, like all of us were. But no one wanted to leave. We were all too worried to possibly leave, in case something happened. We sat there in silence as Austin eventually wore himself out and sat back down. Eventually Allison and Roderick came back and handed out the much needed coffee. We went another hour and still no information. I growled in frustration against Daniels' chest before sitting up. I was about to voice my feelings, but before I could, my phone vibrated. I picked it up and sighed, seeing it was Terry. I excused myself from the group and headed through the sliding ER doors into the chilly night air.

"I heard what happened." Terry said immediately.

I wasn't surprised. Daniels probably sent word back to everyone at some point. I normally would have been upset about the over protectiveness that would surely be thrown at me, but I was just too exhausted and worried to care right now.

"Are you okay? Are you hurt?" He asked hurriedly.

"I'm fine." I sighed. "We're at the hospital. Alex and Chris are pretty hurt. And a few of the others."

"Shit. I'm so sorry sweetie. No one thought this would happen, or else we would have been there."

"It's not your fault." I assured them. "Thanks for calling. I needed to hear a familiar voice."

"Do you want me to head up there? I can be on the next flight and be there by morning."

"No, I'll be fine I promise." I lied. I wasn't fine, and I knew I wouldn't be. All I wanted was some peace, but I had gotten the complete opposite. And now two of my closest friends right now where in the hospital seriously injured.

"I don't believe that for a second sweetie." He didn't sound convinced. I didn't blame him. I wouldn't believe me either. "I'm calling your father."

My eyes widened. "What? No! Don't bother him. I'm fine! I promise!"

"Your father should know." Terry reasoned.

"Please Terry, he'll just freak out and come down here to take me home. I need to be here for Alex and Chris. Please!" I begged him.

He sighed. "Fine, but I'm calling your brother."

Groaning, I knew Terry wouldn't let up until someone knew. At least Shane was a better candidate than my father.

"Call me as soon as you hear anything alright?"

"I will." I promised. "I'll talk to you later."

"Be safe sweetie. Remember, we're all just a phone call away. You give us the word and we'll be there in an instant."

I felt appreciative of his caring. "I know. Thank you. I love you guys."

We said our goodbyes before hanging up. I knew it was only a matter of time before my brother would be calling me after his talk with Terry, so I remained outside. I glanced up at the starry night and sighed. Why did this have to happen to me? What did I do to deserve this? I just wanted some time with my friends, to be happy. But it didn't seem I would ever be happy at this rate.

"Tess?"

I turned to see Daniels walking up towards me.

"Terry I assume?"

I nodded. "Wanted to check in. He's calling my brother."

"How are you doing?" he asked.

I shrugged. "Horrible."

He wrapped his arms around me. "I'm sorry this happened."

"Why couldn't they just give me one weekend?" I bit my lip as a fresh batch of tears threatened to escape.

"I don't know sweetie. They're assholes." He shook his head with a sigh.

"It's not fair Chris!" my bottom lip began to tremble before a sob came out.

He pulled me in tighter as I sobbed into his chest. I don't think either of us cared that we had just broken up a week ago. That was long gone. It didn't matter anymore. All that mattered right now was those four men in there, hurt because of me. I felt terrible. This was all my fault. If I hadn't come up here, none of them would have been involved with this war. This was entirely my fault.

"It's not your fault." Chris seemed to read my mind. "None of this. You're allowed to wrestle wherever you want. They can't dictate that. You're allowed to wrestle here. They shouldn't have done this. This was all their fault, not yours. No one blames you. Not a single person in there puts the blame on you."

That just made me sob harder. I couldn't believe how great Chris was being about this all. He could have just left and not given a care in the world. I had been the one to break us up. I had been half the reason we had broken up in the first place. But he didn't seem to give a care in the world about that. It only seemed to strengthen us.

I was just starting to calm down somewhat when my phone went off. I sighed as I pulled away from Chris, though his arms still around me tightly.

"Hi Shane." I greeted immediately, already knowing it was him.

"I'm already on the road." He stated. "I'll be there in an hour. Paul's with me."

"Shane, you don't have to come." I insisted.

"Bullshit sis, I'm coming."

"Shane…"

"Tess, you're my little sister. I don't care if your not hurt, I'm coming there if you like it or not."

I sighed. I knew it was no use to fight with Shane. When he had his mind made up, there was no stopping him.

"You didn't tell Dad did you?" I crossed my fingers, hoping he hadn't.

"No, but you'll need to tell him eventually." Shane stated.

"I know, just not tonight. Knowing him he'd find a helicopter to get here."

"Too true. I'm going to hand you off to Paul; he thinks I'm going to kill someone."

"Shane don't…" but I was cut off by the sound of the phone moving. I sighed as I waited for Paul to come on. "Hi Paul."

"Are you alright sweetie?"

"I'm fine. Please make sure Shane doesn't drive like a lunatic. I don't need you two to end up in the hospital either." I pleaded with him.

"I'll try; you know what your brother is like though."

I nodded. I did indeed, and that's what worried me. Shane would go to any length for a member of our family, even if it meant driving like a lunatic.

"Just get here in one piece."

"We'll tear those guys into pieces sweetie." Paul promised, venom in his tone.

"We can worry about that when you get here. Please just be safe."

* * *

**A/N: **my computer tried to work against me, trying to restart and not work....but i wouldn't let it! i was determined to get this posted!!!! and now that it is its off to write another chapter....hopefully...before i crash from being so hyper lol


	119. Chapter One Hundred and Eighteen

**Chapter 118:**

The sun was just starting to rise in Long Island, and everyone was exhausted. No one had given us any information on the four, and we refused to leave until we knew for certain they were alright. Austin and Roderick were falling asleep to the far end of the room, while Joe was chatting quietly with the Briscoes, trying to keep busy. Lacey was fast asleep spread across a few chairs, while Daizee and Allison kept nodding off. I couldn't sleep at all, even though I could feel my body fighting against my will. Daniels beside me was going in and out of sleep every so often, his arm tightly around me. I knew we would never get back together, but I was happy to have him here. I always did feel safe with him around, and that's all I needed right now.

It was just turning onto 6 when I spotted Shane and Paul walking into the hospital. I quietly untangled myself from Daniels and tip toed over to the two. Shane immediately pulled me into a hug, kissing the side of my head.

"We would have been here sooner but Paul kept making me slow down and stop."

"Good." I pulled back and embraced Paul just as tightly. He was just as much part of this family as Shane was. He was my Brother -in-Law, but he felt much more like a blood relative. He had been a strong force in the lives of the McMahon for far too long now. "I'm glad you're here in one piece."

"Couldn't get you more worried than you already are." Paul rubbed my back comfortingly. "Have you heard anything?"

"Not yet." I frowned. "No one's said anything. I'm getting really worried."

"I'll go check it out." Paul offered.

"Thanks." I shot him an appreciative look as he turned and headed towards the nurses station. I looked back up at Shane before embracing him again. Sometimes all a girl needed was her big brother; and this was most definitely one of those times. He always seemed to know what to say to make me feel better. He always was the person I went to to fight one of my battles. He had been my protector since the day I was born, and that would never change.

"I'm sorry this all had to happen. Jericho called and mentioned how excited you were about doing these shows." He held onto me tightly. "I'm sorry that was all ruined."

My face fell. "I had so much fun Shane. The match last night was amazing. Daizee, Lacey, and Allison are great; I love it here in ROH. But then they had to come and ruin it all!"

"I know, I'm sorry." He frowned. "I hate seeing you like this Tess. I just want to go out there and track them down and kill them. You know I could get a whole army to come down here and help."

"I know, I appreciate that." I sighed into his chest, his voice soothing me. "I just hope they're okay Shane. Alex and Chris are too important to me to lose now."

Shane glanced down at me before shooting a gaze over to Paul. "Seems he was able to get someone."

I was relieved to see a doctor following Paul back to the group. I looked around and didn't have the heart to wake some of them up, so I let them sleep. The Briscoes and Joe noticed the doctor approaching and headed over.

"You're all here for," the doctor looked down at the clipboard in her hands. "Mr. Shelley, Mr. Sabin, Mr. Jacobs, and Mr. Whitmer?"

"Yes we are." Shane held onto me tightly.

"Mr. Jacobs and Mr. Whitmer are doing just fine. They can be released later today provided they get through the morning alright. They had stitches and are now resting. Mr. Sabin and Mr. Shelley unfortunately didn't fare as well."

I bit my lip worriedly.

"Mr. Sabin has two broken ribs and his shoulder was dislocated when he came in. he has some cuts and bruises, as well as a grade 2 concussion, but nothing terribly serious."

I sighed out of relief. Thank god. But there was still Alex to worry about.

"Mr. Shelley lost a lot of blood by the time he came here. We gave him a transfusion and he seems to be taking to it fine." The doctor frowned. "However with the force of the blow to the head he received, we are worried. He has yet to wake up, and that's what we're worried about. Once he wakes up, we'll know for sure about any damage."

"How long could it be?" Joe questioned.

"Anywhere from a couple hours to weeks. It's unsure of when he could wake up." she took a look around the room. "They're in rooms 235 and 236 if you would like to visit them. Three people in a room at a time I'm afraid. Visiting hours don't start for another few hours but considering you've been here all night I'll let that slide. You're free to go into their rooms at any time. I just ask that you allow them to rest. They've gone through a lot tonight."

We all nodded as the doctor smiled before heading back to the nurse's station. I was relieved that the three would be alright, but I was devastated to hear about Alex. What if he didn't wake up? What if he did and there was permanent damage? I would never forgive myself if either scenario occurred. Alex and become an important part of my life, and I didn't want to lose that. Especially not like this.

"We'll go check up on Jimmy and BJ." Joe laid a hand on my shoulder. "Let us know how Alex and Chris are."

I nodded as the two headed off in the direction of the set of rooms. I wanted to go check on Alex and Chris, but felt guilty at leaving the others. Shane and Paul however promised to let the others know the news once they woke. I was about to go follow the other three men, but stopped. I turned and looked over at Austin and Roderick. Out of all of them, those two would care the most about knowing the welfare of the two Detroit men. I strode quietly over to them and shook them awake.

"Hey, any news?" Roderick stretched.

"Jimmy and BJ are okay, just resting." I announced to the two. "Chris has a few broken ribs and is beat up pretty badly. Alex though…well he's just worse."

Austin caught the look on my face and stood up immediately. "Can we see them?"

I nodded as I took both of their hands and began leading them to where Joe and the Briscoes had disappeared to. We walked along the long corridor before spotting the two rooms. As we passed by Jimmy and BJ's room, I was happy to see that Jimmy was actually awake and looking fairly well. That was a relief at least. That feeling immediately left as we stepped into Alex and Chris' room. The color left my face as I saw the two lying in the beds, motionless. I went over to Chris' bed first, checking on the older of the two. His midsection was taped up heavily, as was his shoulder. There was a bandage on his forehead while bruises scattered his body. I frowned as I grabbed onto his hand softly and squeezed it. I felt a hand on my shoulder and sent Roderick a sad look. He took a seat next to Chris' bed, urging me to go see Alex.

I walked the short distance to the next bed over and couldn't stop the few tears from escaping down my cheeks. Alex looked so lifeless as he lay in the bed, pale from head to toe. His head was bandaged heavily as smaller cuts and bruises went across his arms. I fell into the chair Austin dragged over for me, and held onto Alex's hand tightly. All I could hear were the beeping of the machines. It scared me. I didn't want any of this to happen. I didn't want these two men to be here, in this room. I didn't want Alex to be lying like this, not knowing if he would wake up. I didn't give a care in the world what happened to me, but I wouldn't allow for them to do this to my friends.

I began to grow angry. I hated Punk for this. He could have kept this in Orlando, but no. He had to drag our feud in TNA to this level. He put my life and Jeff Jarrett's life through hell. They put my friend's through hell wondering where I was. Now they were doing it all again, but this time, taking out everyone that I cared about. But they were messing with the wrong person. I came back to TNA looking for revenge. And now I wasn't going to stop at anything until I got it.

Payback is a bitch.

* * *

**A/N:** AWWWWW Alex! I'm so cruel to that poor boy eh? alrght, i admit, i just secretly want to play nurse for him ;) hehe. thankfully Jimmy, BJ, and Chris are alright. But what about Alex? will be make it alright? and oooooo Tess is mad! Punk is going to regret messing with that girl....cuz a girl pissed off is any man's worst nightmare lol. alright, last chapter until after i sleep...tho i may write for a little bit. far too tired to try and edit anything tho lol.


	120. Chapter One Hundred and Nineteen

**Chapter 119:**

As the morning wore on, everyone came in to see how each man was doing. Unfortunately half of them had to leave to get to the show later that night. Cary, the owner of ROH, was gracious enough to stop by the hospital to check up on the four. He gave the four, as well as I, the night off, wishing us well. Before he left, he made sure to note that he would enjoy seeing me back in ROH shortly. I told him I would more than enjoy the opportunity.

Austin and Roderick didn't want to leave. They were fighting to stay, but I had threatened both of them into going to Edison for the show that night. They didn't enjoy the fact, but left finally after I promised to update them throughout the day. Daniels was just as reluctant to leave, but I was able to persuade him to as well. The three girls were luckily able to stay, as my match with Allison was now cancelled, and Daizee and Lacey were only being used in Jimmy and BJ's match. Shane and Paul refused to leave, which I was happy about. I needed the two of them there to give me support.

As the day wore on, I began to grow more worried. I had checked on Jimmy and BJ multiple times, both men stating quite forcefully that this wasn't my fault and that they didn't blame me at all. I appreciated that, and soon found that both men were quite enjoyable to be around. However I never got much of a chance to get to know them as I couldn't stay away from Alex and Chris too long. Alex hadn't woken up yet, which I never expected. Chris hadn't either, which worried me.

The night came and gone and still there was no change. I slept in the chairs between both beds, praying silently that they would be alright. Part of my wish was granted when I woke up the next morning and saw Chris awake and drumming a tune on the side of the bed.

"Oh Chris!" I immediately got up and tried to hug him as carefully as I could.

"Hey, are you okay?" He scrutinized me worriedly.

"I'm fine. Don't worry about me. How are you feeling?"

Chris frowned as he gazed between his shoulder and ribs. "Like I'm broken."

"That's because you are." I pointed out.

"True." He nodded. "How are the others? Are they okay?"

"Most of them are fine. They all had to leave for the show tonight except the girls who are probably at the hotel with Jimmy and BJ. Alex though…" I became choked up as I spoke about the other Detroit man.

That was the first time Chris noticed he wasn't the only one in the room. He looked around me and his face fell when he saw the state Alex was in.

"Is he…is he okay?" he stumbled over his words.

There was no mistake that he and Alex were best friends. They cared about each other more than anything. They were brothers. They were family. If something were to happen to one of them, I don't think the other would be able to handle it. They had a special bond, and seeing his best friend lying lifelessly in the bed next to him, it was hard for Chris.

"The blow to his head was pretty bad. We don't know when or if he'll wake up. And if he does, who knows what could be wrong." I felt my bottom lip begin to tremble. "I'm so sorry Chris. This is all my fault! If I hadn't let you guys bring me up here, then this never would have happened!"

"Don't even say that Tess." He immediately grabbed my hand. "This isn't even close to your fault. I don't blame you. I know Alex wouldn't blame you. He wouldn't want you thinking like that. This isn't your fault sweetie."

"But…"

"No buts." He shook his head. "You can just march right out of here if you're going to talk like that. It's not your fault."

I went to reply but a soft knock on the door interrupted me. I looked and saw Paul standing there, a small smile on his face at seeing one of the men awake.

"I think you need to come out here." He nodded towards the waiting room.

I raised an eyebrow but nodded. I kissed Chris' forehead lightly where he wasn't injured before promising to be right back. I walked out of the room and towards the waiting room. I stopped dead in my tracks as I saw who was all standing there. Terry, Devon, Ray, Jay, both Hardy's, and yes, my own father, stood waiting. My face fell at seeing my father, but only for a brief moment. It was like everything just flooded away as I hurried over and lunged at my father. It was one of those rare moments when I just needed my father and didn't care about anything else.

"You should have told me Tess." He whispered. "I would have come sooner."

"I didn't want to worry you dad." I insisted. "I told them not to call you."

"My fault." Paul admitted. "Steph wanted to know what was going on and she must have told Vince."

"I'm glad she did." My father nodded. "I'll get them the best care."

"Dad, you don't have to…"

"Yes I do. I can't bear to see you like this. If they mean this much to you, then I'll get them whatever they need. Including the best doctors."

"Thank you daddy." I held onto him tightly.

After a few moments I pulled back and immediately hugged the other individuals. I was completely taken back that they had all travelled up here just for me. I hadn't given them enough credit though. They would go to any length for those they cared about. It was only natural for them to do this.

"You all don't have to be here. Really." I told them all as I hugged the Hardy's last.

"We couldn't let you go through this alone." Ray shook his head. "We're your family. We're not going to just leave you up here alone."

"Thank you." I told them all. "I would love to chat, but I want to go check up on them. Chris just woke up."

"Go go." Terry urged. "Let us know how they're doing."

I nodded before waving and heading back into Alex and Chris' room. I smiled slightly as I saw Chris sleeping soundly, a goofy look on his face. I was relieved that he would be alright. Now I only had Alex left to worry about. I headed over to his bed and sat down beside Alex, holding his hand within mine. I pleaded that he would wake up. I needed him to wake up. I may not have known the man for long, but I needed him here, especially now. I had made up my mind that I would get revenge for this. I wouldn't let Punk get away with these sort of actions. Not against the men I considered so important in my life.

"Hey."

I looked up to see Jay walking into the room. He glanced at both men, his eyes widening. I don't think he really realized just how bad they were until he saw them. He shook his head before pulling up a chair beside me at Alex's bed.

"Pretty brutal." He eyed Alex. "Are you really doing alright?"

"Not really. I'm worried and pissed off." I admitted. "I want to kill Punk for this."

"Don't do anything stupid." He laid a hand on my shoulder. "We don't need you in the hospital next."

"I don't care."

"Tess…"

I shook my head. "I don't care Jay. I'm going to get revenge. I don't care what happens to me. But he can't do this. He can't get away with this. He's going to get what's coming. Just you wait!"

* * *

**A/N:** Revenge is going to be brutal for Punk. but yay, Chris is awake and doing well...but Alex is still not alright :( sadness. I was gonna post this last night, but as i said, far too tired to edit anything lol. Hopefully you all enjoyed the many chapters i posted in my hyperness haha.


	121. Chapter One Hundred and Twenty

**Chapter 120:**

Days passed and Alex still hadn't woken up. Chris was slowly recovering, though was still in a lot of pain. I had grown completely restless waiting for Alex to wake up. I couldn't take it any longer. I needed him to be okay. I needed him to wake up.

"Tess?" My father watched as I continued to pace in the waiting room, mumbling to myself. "Calm down sweetie."

"But, it's been day's dad! He still hasn't woken up!" I turned to him, tears in my eyes.

He sighed as he stood up, laying a hand on my shoulder. "He'll be fine. I talked with my doctors at Stamford Med, as long as he's stable, we'll be able to transfer him over so they can treat him."

My eyes grew. "Really?"

"I told you sweetie, if these two mean this much to you, I'll do whatever it takes to make you happy." He kissed my forehead. "Let me go talk with the doctors and see what can be done."

I nodded as he headed towards the nurses station while I plopped down in a seat between Shane and Paul. Shane immediately pulled an arm around me, squeezing me tightly.

"It'll be alright Tess. Dad will get the best doctors, you know that."

"I know. I'm just worried. I really want him to be okay." I felt a tear slide down my cheek and quickly brushed it away. "I hate this. I hate just sitting here not knowing what's going to happen. I understand what it was like when I was in the hospital for you all now. It's horrible."

"The waiting process is always the hardest." Paul grabbed onto my hand softly. "But it's the only thing you can do."

Unfortunately he was right. I couldn't do anything but just sit here and do nothing. I tried pleading with Alex's lifeless body, pleading with him to wake up as if he could hear me. I knew Chris did the exact thing when I wasn't around. Neither of us wanted anything to happen to the Detroit man. He was too important to both of us to lose him like this.

"They're going to transport Shelley in a few hours." My father strode back over, a satisfied look on his face. "I'm getting the helicopter flown in to take him."

"You don't have to go to this length dad." I insisted, though was relieved Alex would be able to now get the best possible care. If there was a chance he could be alright, I would go to the end of the world and back again to make sure it happened.

"Nonsense." He shook his head. "I've already contacted the hospital and they're ready for his arrival."

"What about Chris though?" I remembered the other injured man. "He'll want to be with Alex too."

"He can stay at home while they recover." Shane suggested.

"Of course." My father agreed. "I'll let your mother know and we'll get a guest bedroom fixed up."

"Thank you." I shot up and hugged him tightly. "Thank you so much!"

"Your welcome sweetie."

"I'm going to go tell Chris the news." I immediately shot back to the all too familiar hospital room. As I walked in, I could see Chris looking over at Alex's lifeless form worriedly. "Hey."

Chris looked up and I could see tears in his eyes. He blinked them away however as I entered. "Hey."

"My dad is getting him transferred over to a hospital in Stamford; he'll get the best treatment there." I sat down beside Chris, holding his hand tightly. "He'll be alright Chris. He will."

"I hope so." He sighed. "I never really thought of life without the guy you know? We've just been friends for so long that it just doesn't seem right to not have him around."

"You won't have to worry about that. I promise." I wasn't sure if I believed that myself, but I had to keep Chris' spirits up. "You'll be able to stay at my parent's house while you two recover. I know you'll want to be around for Alex."

"Thanks." He shot me an appreciative look. "That means a lot. I don't think I could go back to Detroit and just leave him there."

"I don't think you could even manage to get to Detroit like this." I nodded at his shoulder and ribs. "How are you feeling?"

"Arm isn't as sore, can start to move it a bit." He glanced down at the arm in a sling. "Ribs are killer though. I can barely breathe without being in pain. Moving is just horrible."

I frowned. "Which is why you couldn't make it on a plane. It's only an hour or so drive up there, so it shouldn't be too painful."

"Thanks again Tess."

"Anything for you guys. You mean a lot to me." I squeezed his hand.

"Yeah mean a lot to us too you know." He stated, glancing at Alex quickly. "I know we've only known each other for a bit, but I feel like I've known you my whole life. Cheesy I know, but still. And Alex…well he's pretty taken with you. I think you're good for the guy. He's gone through a lot with TNA, fighting against his morals just to get paid and all. I tried what I could to get him out of that situation, but I think you're the one who really helped. Which I appreciate by the way. I hated seeing him like that, being blackmailed into doing something he hated and all I could do was stand by and watch it happen."

"You really care about him don't you?"

"He's my brother." He shrugged before wincing at his shoulder. "I wish I could be in his position right now. I hate seeing him like that."

I nodded. I knew how he felt.

"I'm kind of tired." The sandy brown haired man yawned. "Sorry."

"Don't be sorry." I patted his hand. "I'll be here, rest."

He shot me a small smile before closing his eyes. As he did, I sighed and frowned. I wish there was more I could do for him. For both of them. Although my father was getting Alex the best medical care in the country, I still couldn't help but fear for his life. What if it didn't help? What if Alex didn't…

No, I couldn't think like that. I had to keep positive. For Chris' sake at least.

* * *

Three hours later Paul pulled into the long driveway of the McMahon estate. I barely cared at all at seeing the house I had come to miss over the last month or two. I was too worried about the man lying uncomfortably in the back seat. I glanced back at him and caught the pained look on his face.

"We're here Chris, don't worry." I assured him.

Paul parked right outside the front door as we quickly piled out. We immediately tried to get Chris out of the back without causing the poor man anymore pain. Though as we got him to his feet, I could tell he was trying his hardest to mask the pain he felt. His eyes were watery, and his lip was being bitten down on.

"I've got him." I was surprised to hear Shawn's voice as he strode over, taking up Chris' other side as he and Paul helped the man into the large house.

I grabbed the door for the two and held it open as we wall waked into the main foyer. I was relieved to see my mother and sister already waiting for us, concerned expressions on their faces.

"We set up the guest bedroom at the back of the house so he wouldn't have to go up the stairs." My mother informed us.

My sister caught me into a hug as Paul and Shawn brought Chris to the bedroom my mother had talked about. I held onto my sister tightly, just happy to be around family right now.

"How are you doing Hun?" she put me at arms length, noticing my pale face. "Have you eaten at all?"

I shook my head.

"I'll go make us all some lunch." My mother offered before turning and heading into the large kitchen.

Stephanie meanwhile wrapped an arm around me as we headed towards the guest bedroom. As we entered, I could see Chris was propped up in the bed, multiple pillows behind him as he shifted to find a comfortable position.

"Hey, are you okay?" I rushed to his side, grabbing his hand.

"Yeah, much nicer than a hospital bed." He forced a small smile.

I squeezed his hand. "You should rest; it's been a long day."

"How's Alex?"

"Shane will call once he's situated at the hospital." Paul stated. "We'll head over now to check up and let you all know."

I nodded at them in appreciation as Shawn and Paul gave me quick hugs before leaving. I grabbed the chair from the desk in the room and situated myself comfortably beside Chris, knowing I wouldn't be leaving for awhile.

"You don't have to stay." He insisted.

"I want to." I assured him with a smile. "Don't have anywhere else to be right now."

"What about Alex?"

"I'll go check up on him later. He needs to get situated right now. You're just as important Chris."

"Thanks. Thanks for everything Tess."

I held onto his hand tightly. "I would do anything for you guys. Anything."

* * *

**A/N**: It's amazing how much inspiration you can get just from eating scrambled eggs hahaha i'm actually surprised i'm able to write this fast. when i went to bed last night my one wrist actually hurt from typing so much lol. price to pay for the awesomeness tho! i know just how long i go sometimes between updates, and i feel that if i dont get whats going on in my head down, then it'll be one long writers block. but i'm sure none of you are complaining lol


	122. Chapter One Hundred and Twenty One

**Chapter 121:**

I sighed as I trekked through the silently house. It was the middle of the night and I couldn't sleep for the life of me. All I could think about was how Alex was doing. I briefly visited him in the hospital a few hours after getting home, but I was rushed out as the doctors inspected him. I hadn't heard anything since, and that worried me. But all I could do was just keep optimistic that he was alright. Though I was finding that harder to do by the minute.

I walked into the kitchen, grabbing a glass of water before deciding to head into the living room. As I passed by Chris' room, I was surprised to see him awake and groaning in pain. I immediately shot into the room to check on him.

"Are you okay?"

Chris looked up in surprise. "What are you doing up? Its 3 in the morning."

I shrugged. "Couldn't sleep. Are you alright? Do you need anything?"

"One of the pillows slipped down and it's bugging me." His face grew red. "But I can't reach back and fix it."

I stifled a laugh. "I shouldn't find this funny but you look like a five year old with that look on your face."

"I'm at least six." He stuck his tongue out.

Leave it to Chris to act like a child when he was in tremendous amount of pain.

"Here, let me up. Can you move forward a bit?"

Chris nodded as he moved as much as he could before he winced in pain. I quickly grabbed the pillow he was referring to and pulled it up so it would align with Chris' head. I helped him sit back, making sure he was situated alright. Chris closed his eyes tightly, trying to wash away the pain he must of felt. I wished I could take it all away, or feel it for him instead. I hated seeing him like this.

"I'm fine." He seemed to read my mind, his blue eyes popping back open. "I'll live."

"I'm just worried is all." I sat back down in the chair beside his bed. "Are you alright now?"

"Yeah." He nodded. "Still won't be able to sleep though. I can't think about sleeping when Alex is like this."

"I know how you feel." I nodded. "But you have to rest Chris. You're recovering, and it'll go by faster if you rest."

"How can I rest when my best friend is lying in some hospital bed fighting for his life?" I could spot the tears in his eyes. One slipped down his cheek which forced a growl from the man as he quickly brushed it away. He winced in pain again from the sudden movement. I grabbed onto his hand tightly, trying to soothe him as much as possible. "I hate this."

"I know Chris, I know." I bit my lip, trying to stop myself from crying. "The sooner you sleep though, the sooner morning will come and I'll be able to check on Alex for us."

He nodded, though I could tell it wasn't helping in the least. Neither of us seemed to be able to sleep a wink tonight.

"So, you couldn't sleep either?"

"I was thinking about Alex too." I shrugged. "And I was worried about you. Please try and sleep Chris. For me?"

Chris sighed as he stared over at me. He nodded slowly though as he shifted for a brief moment before finding a comfortable spot. I felt relieved and stood up to leave. However his hand tugged me back softly.

"Stay. Please?" he asked softly, his voice cracking. He looked up at me with the saddest look I've ever seen and I quickly obliged. "You can lie with me. Maybe you'll fall asleep too."

"But I don't want to hurt you." I shook my head, about to sit back down in the chair.

"You won't." he nodded at his free side. "Just watch the ribs."

I bit my lip, wondering if I should. But one look into those sad blue eyes I knew I couldn't refuse. I nodded and slowly crawled under the covers to join him. I kept a little away from him in the large bed, not wanting to hurt him at all. However his non injured arm pulled me a bit closer, until I was just slightly touching his side. His arm remained around my shoulders as I heard him sigh and begin to drift off to sleep. I shot a glance up at him and sighed myself, happy to see him sleeping. After a few moments of making sure I wasn't hurting him at all, I slowly began to drift off myself.

* * *

"Tess, wake up." I felt someone shaking me awake. "Tess, Chris, come on you guys."

I groaned as I cracked an eye open, revealing my brother above me with a grin on his face.

"Alex woke up."

My eyes grew wide as I popped up quickly. "When?"

"An hour ago. He's been asking for you guys. I know Chris can't go, but he'll be happy to see you at least."

I nodded before shaking Chris awake carefully. He moaned something about pink elephants before slowly drawing his eyes open.

"Morning." He yawned before noticing the happy looks on our faces. "What happened?"

"Alex is awake." I answered gleefully. "I'm going to go see him."

"I'll come." Chris went to get out of bed but fell back in pain.

"You have to rest." Shane shook his head. "You can barely move."

"I'm fine." Chris was determined and tried again.

"No Chris." I lightly pushed him back against the pillows. "I'll go and see him and let you know everything. Alex wouldn't want you to hurt yourself further. He's awake now; half the battle is over with."

Chris frowned but nodded. He knew we were right, he couldn't get there. So he instead pouted as I kissed him on the cheek and raced up to my room to get dressed. Before I knew it Shane and I had arrived at the hospital, rushing in towards where Paul and Shawn sat. They stood immediately as they saw us approach.

"I'll take you to his room." Paul grabbed onto my shoulders and began leading me down a hallway.

I prayed that Alex would be alright and there was no damage as we reached the room. While he had woken up, it still didn't mean he was out of danger.

"Tess!"

A grin fell over my face as I spotted the brown eyed man staring at me happily. His head was still bandaged, but he didn't look nearly as bad as he did the previous evening. The color had returned to his face and he looked almost like his normal self. I rushed over and pulled him into a tight hug, not wanting to let go. Alex shifted a bit in his bed so I could sit down beside him. His arm was around me, and I had a feeling he didn't want to let me go as much as I didn't.

"How's Chris?" he asked immediately.

"He's at our house recovering. Just a few broken ribs and a dislocated shoulder. He wanted to be here but he can hardly move." I held onto him tightly. "I'm so happy you're alright Alex. We've all been so worried."

"I'm okay. Or at least I think I am." He shot a glance to the other men in the room.

I looked over and saw my father chatting with who I presumed to be Alex's new doctor.

"Is he?" I asked them.

They both looked up and a smile fell over the doctor's face.

"We can't locate any permanent damage. He has a concussion but other than that Mr. Shelley should be just fine."

I sighed in relief. Thank god.

"I can't let you wrestle for a bit I'm afraid, Mr. Shelley." The doctor looked over his chart. "Two months of recovery at the very least. You're a lucky man."

Alex nodded wildly. "As long as I'm alive, I don't give a crap about wrestling right now."

"Good. You and Chris can be out together."

"We'll be like two old men lying around." He chuckled.

Of course he would crack a joke at a time like this. But I couldn't help but laugh. He and Chris were both alright. That's all that mattered.

* * *

**A/N: **YAY!!! Alex is okay!!! you all know me well enough to know i would never let anything happen to Alex Shelley lol he's too sexy haha

So i'm amazed that i didn't need tonight's Impact to get me inspired...tho i'm sure it still will lol. i have this crazy vision of the site crashing because of my crazy updates...haha, could you imagine that :p


	123. Chapter One Hundred and Twenty Two

**Chapter 122:**

"Have I mentioned how much I hate hospitals?" Alex grumbled as I walked into his room a few days later after visiting Chris at home.

"Only about million times Lex." I hugged him quickly before sitting beside him on his bed. "I have good news though!"

"Your taking over the world?"

"Not yet, maybe tomorrow." I laughed. "I talked with your doctor, and he said you can come home with me today! As long as you promise to relax and take it easy. Remember, you can't wrestle for two months!"

He nodded happily. "I know. So I can really leave?"

"Yep. My dad is signing you out as we speak, so once he's done it'll be off to the house!"

"Sweet, I can finally see just how crazily huge this house is." He grinned.

I rolled my eyes as I stood up, pulling some clothes out of the bag I brought. "The girls and BJ and Jimmy brought your car up on their way home. They're doing fine by the way."

"Good, I'm glad." He pushed the covers back and stood, grasping the back of his hospital gown. I handed him his clothes before he headed into the bathroom to change.

I waited patiently, grabbing some of his belongings he had come into the hospital with. His shirt was absolutely useless as there was blood all over it. I threw it into the trash before putting the other stuff into my bag. As I was closing it, Alex came limping out in a pair of dark pants and a Made In Detroit t-shirt. I smiled; he looked like his old self minus the bandage on his head. But that didn't matter anymore. He was as fine as he could be at the moment. All he needed was a few months of recovery and he would be back up on his feet, kicking someone else's ass.

"All set?" My father walked into the room.

"More than you know." Alex muttered before looking up at him. "Thanks for all you've done Mr. McMahon."

He smiled. "I'll do anything to keep my daughter happy."

I wrapped my arms around Alex happily. This definitely did make me happy. I was happy to see him up walking around, and now able to come home. I couldn't ask for more.

Soon we were pulling up to the house. I helped Alex into the house, but he waved me away. I laughed before taking his hand and pulling him towards the back of the house.

"Your room will be upstairs, but I figured you and Chris would want to see each other."

Alex's eyes lit up as if it were Christmas. I chuckled at his reaction and led him into Chris' room. Chris' eyes widened in excitement as Alex slid into the chair beside his bed. I stood by the door way, watching them chat away. It was so cute to see the two catching up with one another. I could tell Chris was relieved to see Alex was well. Alex looked the exact same way towards Chris. It was amazing how much these two cared for one another. They really were like brothers.

"What's so funny?" Alex pouted as I laughed.

"Man love is just too cute." I smirked.

"I like girls!" Chris stated hurriedly.

"He's my Heterosexual life mate, that's it I swear!" Alex's eyes were wide.

That only made me laugh harder. These two were absolutely unbelievable sometimes, but I loved every minute of it. I couldn't ask for the two to be anything else but what they were.

"Get in here you." Alex waved me in.

I rolled my eyes but obliged as I walked over. I went to stand beside Alex, but he had other thoughts in mind. He grabbed me by the waist quickly and pulled me down onto his lap, his arms around me tightly.

"There we go, now everything is absolutely right." He grinned brightly.

I laughed as I swatted at his chest, but didn't make a move to get up. He was absolutely right, this was perfect, the three of us here together. I couldn't imagine being anywhere else.

* * *

"I'm going dad!"

"I don't think it's a good idea." My father shook my head.

I frowned. Tonight was the Impact tapings, and I was determined to go there. I wasn't going to let Punk get away with this. I was going to exact revenge. I already had a ticket booked for in a few hours, making sure I would be in Orlando in time for the shows. My father however was refusing to let me go as we all sat around the table for breakfast, minus Chris as he still could hardly move.

"You shouldn't go Tess." Alex agreed. "You know Punk will try something."

"And that's exactly why I have to go!" I slammed my fist on the table, surprising everyone. "I need to make this stop. He can't go around hurting the people I care about! I won't let him!"

"You'll only get hurt and end up in the hospital." My father argued. "No one wants that."

"I don't care what happens to me. I care about what happens to my friends. Look what he did to Alex and Chris. I can't let him get away with that."

"Tess…"

"No," I shook my head. I was determined. And when a McMahon was determined, nothing could stop us. "I'm going if you like it or not dad."

He stopped to stare up at me, his eyes looking up into my own. He knew I would indeed go to any length to stop Punk. He knew he couldn't stop me. I was a grown woman; I could make my own decisions. And I had decided to go there tonight, no matter what the consequences.

"Fine, but on my conditions." My father folded his arms.

I narrowed my eyes. "And they are?"

"You take the jet, that way you can come straight home." He stated. "And Paul and Shawn will accompany you there and back. I don't want you to go anywhere without them."

I sighed as Paul and Shawn nodded in agreement. I knew they would put everything aside for me.

"And you won't do anything stupid." My father sent me a knowing look. "I know you want revenge, but I don't want you in the hospital. Do what you have to, but make sure your safe. Then you come straight back here."

Staring at my father, I knew I wouldn't be able to get anything better than that. So I nodded in agreement before standing up and leaving the table. Alex quickly followed me as I hurried into Chris' room.

"I still don't think it's a good idea." Alex muttered.

"I don't either. I heard you guys, you shouldn't go Tess." Chris agreed with his friend.

"Too bad. I am." I lent down and kissed his cheek. "I'll be back before either of you know it."

"I'll come with you.' Alex offered.

I shook my head. "No, you need to recover. You'll be safe here. You heard my father; Paul and Shawn won't leave my side. I'll have the guys go down with me to the ring, I'll do what I need to, and then I'll be back."

"Promise you won't get yourself hurt." Chris asked softly.

I looked down at him and nodded. "I promise Chris. I'll be back before the morning."

"Come see us when you get back." Alex insisted. "I doubt we'll be able to sleep not knowing if you're alright."

I hugged both men tightly. "I love you guys. I'll be fine. Just rest please."

"I'll never forgive you if you don't come back in one piece." Alex threatened.

"I promise Alex, I promise."

* * *

**A/N:** Next chapter will be the tapings....wonder what will happen....knowing me, probably something dramatic :p

I also just realized i now have over 500 reviews...all i can say is wow....thank you guys so much! i can't believe you stood by the story for so long! i know it's been crazy, with long periods without updates, and i apologize for that. Life can be crazy sometimes. But i'm more than making it up now i believe. So thank you to all those who've read this story and who have reviewed....500 reviews and now the 122nd chapter...wow....i never thought it would be this crazy!


	124. Chapter One Hundred and Twenty Three

**Chapter 123:**

"McMahon!"

I raised an eyebrow as I paused and turned to see Jeff Jarrett jogging up behind us. Paul and Shawn grew tense and looked like they wanted to hit the blonde man, but I held out my hands.

"Down boys." I shot both of them looks before glancing at Jarrett. "Hey."

"I heard what happened." He stopped, eying the two beside me. "How is everyone?"

"A lot better. Both are recovering now." I answered. "I hear we have a tag match together."

"Yeah, against Storm and Gail." He nodded. "How are you holding up?"

"I want to rip Punk's head from his body."

"That good then?" he snickered. "So um…two new bodyguards?"

I couldn't help but chuckle as Paula and Shawn took offence to it. I held them back again, knowing both of them haven't forgiven the man in front of us for what he had done a very long time ago to me.

"Cool it you two, he's a good person." I shot glares at both them men. "I'll plan an escape from you two if you keep this up."

They mumbled apologies before taking a step back, giving me my space. I rolled my eyes before sending my attention back to Jarrett. "I was just heading to the guy's locker room, join me and we'll talk about the match."

He nodded as he slowly fell into step beside me, Paul and Shawn close behind us. Jarrett and I talked about the match for the first taping, strategy being planned. As we made it to the desired locker room, Jarrett excused himself, promising to meet me at the tunnel shortly, and jogged off. I knew he hated being around them all at once. He still felt the guilt of what happened a year ago between us, and he knew none of the guys fully forgave him yet. I shrugged it off though as I opened the door. As soon as we entered the room, I was bombarded by hugs from everyone. I went around and assured everyone I, as well as the two Detroit men, were doing just fine. Petey looked extremely happy to find that out and seemed to relax. Everyone greeted Paul and Shawn with friendly greetings before we all sat and everyone went back to what they were doing previously. I dumped my bag beside Petey, pulling out my ring attire. Paul and Shawn had insisted I get changed here instead of the women's locker room. I didn't argue as I did indeed feel far safer being in here than anywhere else in the building.

"Glad they're okay." Petey ran a hand through his dark hair. "I was worried."

I shot him a smile and patted his shoulder. I could tell he was indeed concerned about their welfare, as he did live with the two and were good friends with them. From what I heard, they were quite the trio for the past few years.

"Yeah, we're all glad to hear that." Eric nodded. "Can't believe what happened though. Why did they have to go up there and do that?"

"Because they don't give a crap about anyone else." Adam shook his head. "I want to kill AJ myself. Thankfully I'll get the chance to. Have a match with him tonight."

"Good." Ray smirked. "Kick his head in for us."

"Oh you know I will." Adam cracked his knuckles. "All for you T."

I smiled over at him, appreciative of all their caring. I quickly grabbed my ring attire before heading into the bathroom and changing. As I closed the door behind me I slipped my phone from my pocket and saw multiple texts from Alex and Chris. I laughed to myself before sending them quick replies saying I was alright. I changed hurriedly however, knowing my match with Jarrett would be up soon. I shot back out of the bathroom and dumped my clothes in my bag before looking around.

"We're coming out with you." D'Amore stated, nodding at Team Canada.

I was a bit surprised but nodded. I gave Paul and Shawn quick peck on their cheeks before following Team Canada out. Petey immediately put an arm around me protectively, and I didn't object in the least.

"Team Canada huh?" Jarrett mused as we met with him at the face tunnel. "Feels like old times."

"Just different sides." I rolled my eyes as he and D'Amore shook hands. "Let's just refrain from attacking me."

"I'll try my hardest." Jarrett smirked.

I punched his arm before his music came on. We all made our way up through the tunnel until making it out onto the stage. The fans cheered as they saw us all together. Who would have thought a year ago you would see Jarrett and Team Canada standing at my side? Pretty sure no one ever saw this one coming.

"Making their way to the ring, being accompanied by Team Canada, She's the TNA Knockout Champion, Tess McMahon, and he's the Word Heavyweight Champion, Jeff Jarrett!"

I slid in to the ring as Storm and Gail left quickly, not wanting to start anything with all of Team Canada out there. I pulled myself up onto the turnbuckle, holding my title up with pride. It was unfortunate that winning that belt again was tainted with AJ doing what he did. But I wasn't going to let him or Punk ruin this title reign for me.

"Ready for this?" Jarrett asked as Team Canada left the ring.

"More than you know."

* * *

It felt like hours had passed as the four of us fought. In reality it had only been 20 minutes, but we were exhausted. I had a cut on my forehead that was bleeding quite heavily, as well as a leg that was throbbing. As I climbed back onto the apron, I could see Storm holding up his beer bottle, waiting for Jarrett to get up. I growled as I shot through the ropes and speared Storm to the mat. That was when everything started going wrong. Harris slid into the ring and pulled me off of Storm before giving me the Catatonic. The ref quickly ended the match, making Jarrett and I winners due to DQ. However, that didn't matter to Harris and Storm as they tried to do the Death Sentence. Eric and Petey came in and attacked them however as I slid to the mats below, checking on Jarrett.

"You okay?" I held my ribs in pain.

"Fine." He gritted. "You?"

"Peachy." I responded. "So much for a clean match huh."

"We don't do clean matches." He pointed out, pulling himself to his feet. I followed suit and watched what was happening in the ring.

Jarrett looked like he wanted to join in, but I held him back. We were both exhausted that we would be nothing but in the way. Adam and Jay came down to the ring before we could even blink and helped Team Canada take out AMW. I helped Jarrett backstage meanwhile, where we were instantly met with Paul and Shawn.

"You alright Tess?" Paul asked, checking me over. "We need to get that cut looked at."

"We're fine." I swatted him away but let them lead us towards the trainers.

The trainers checked us over before declaring I would need stitches. I cringed. I hated getting stitches. That meant sharp needle things going in and out of me. That just didn't sound pleasant at all. Shawn seemed to understand what I was feeling and wrapped an arm around me as the EMTs worked their magic. I winced while they did the deed, trying to take my mind off what was going on. I glanced over and saw Jarrett getting his leg wrapped up, ice already on the injured leg.

"I advise you two to stay off the next taping." The EMT shot Jarrett and I both looks. "I won't clear you to wrestle until the PPV."

I frowned. But that still didn't mean I couldn't go down there and do anything towards Punk. I didn't need to wrestle to be able to get revenge.

"You should be good now." The EMT finished up before patting my shoulder.

I lightly touched my forehead but winced as I did do. I hopped off the table and looked around for Jarrett, but found he was no longer there.

"He left." Paul stated.

"Thanks Captain Obvious." I rolled my eyes as we headed out.

He chuckled before wrapping an arm around me and leading us back towards the locker room. However, I came to a stop as we passed a monitor. I pulled the two back to watch what was happening in the ring and frowned as I saw Punk, Cabana, and AJ talking.

"…We took out your precious Detroit homos to teach you a lesson McMahon." He finished saying as I managed to pull the others to a stop. He shot a smirk at AJ and Cabana. "I took your best friend, and made sure those two fan boys won't be able to walk for awhile. How much more of this can you take McMahon? What else do we need to do to you? How about your family? Should we go after them next?"

I pulled myself away from Paul and Shawn and ran towards the tunnel. I ignored the two running after me, yelling for me to stop. But I didn't care. He didn't the right to threaten my family or friends. I was tired of this. I ran up the tunnel, ignoring the others trying to stop me as well. I stopped briefly at the top of the stage before rushing towards the ring. Unfortunately it was only one against three and they had seen me coming down and were prepared. I kicked and punched wherever I could, and somehow AJ and Cabana were down for a split second. I went at Punk, trying to attack the man. However, AJ immediately grabbed onto my waist before I could do anything. He held onto my arms tightly, not letting me go. Punk just snickered cruelly as he grabbed my chin.

"I don't think that was a bright move on your part McMahon." Punk snarled before grabbing the chair Cabana had brought into the ring.

I struggled against AJ as I watched Punk raise the chair. Before I knew it I was being thrown to the ground, blood trickling down the side of my face. I couldn't even let out a groan before I fell unconscious.

* * *

**A/N:** So much for her promise to not get hurt. Evil Punk...he should be kicked....very very hard.


	125. Chapter One Hundred and Twenty Four

**Chapter 124:**

"Is she going to be alright?"

"She'll be fine, just needs to rest. She got another set of stitches in there."

"I knew she shouldn't have left."

"She was doing fine until she saw Punk and them saying crap. I don't blame her for getting pissed off."

"Yeah but she promised she wouldn't do anything stupid."

"This is your sister we're talking about Shane, she doesn't think."

"Hey! I heard that Paul!" I groaned as my eyes flickered open. It took me a moment to realize I was back at home, in my bedroom. "How'd I get here?"

"You got hit in the head by a chair, took you to the hospital and gave you stitches, meds knocked you out more than you already were, and then there was a plane and…"

"That hurts my head." I held onto my head painfully as Paul kept going on and on.

He smirked. "That's what you get for being an idiot."

"Yeah yeah yeah, I get it." I growled, pushing my sheets off me. "I'm hungry."

"Steph is downstairs making breakfast." Shane informed.

I grumbled a response as I pushed the two away and left my room, holding my head painfully. I didn't even notice Shawn as I passed him on my way down to the kitchen. All I needed was food right now. That would take away my grouchy mood. Or well, killing Punk would work just as well.

"Hey, you're up." Stephanie smiled brightly. "How are you feeling?"

"Like a freight train ran over my head." I mumbled, taking a seat at the island while putting my head in my hands. "Painage."

"Shawn told us what happened, you shouldn't have…"

"Yeah I know Steph, I don't need another lecture. I'm sorry, I regret it. But I was pissed off. What would you have done if he threatened us in front of you?"

She stopped and frowned. "Alright, so I would do the exact same thing."

"See." I peeked an eye out over a hand. "Are you cooking my favorite chocolate chip pancakes?"

"Of course." She nodded with a laugh. "Want some?"

"Yes please." I straightened, ignoring my intense headache. Chocolate Chip pancakes were one of those things that could just clear everything away. Especially when Steph made them. They were heavenly! "I can already taste them!"

She rolled her eyes before setting a full plate in front of me. I immediately dug in, ignoring as the guys walked into the kitchen and stood around me.

"How can she eat like?" Shawn questioned.

"She takes after Shane." Paul snickered.

"Nah, more like Steph." Shane smirked.

Stephanie shot all three of them dirty looks. "Out!"

"But we want food too!"

"Out! Out!"

"I'm the father of your child though!" Paul pulled out a pout.

"Yeah, and you can also lose the thing that helped create that wonderful daughter of ours." She threatened with a spatula.

Paul hesitated for a moment before shooing them all out. He knew better than to mess with his wife. I couldn't help but laugh at the three of them as they hurried into the game room. I actually had to admit that I missed being home. I suppose you just needed months away to make you realize just how much you had to begin with.

"I'm mad at you."

I looked up with a raised eyebrow as Alex walked into the room, a pout on his face, his arms crossed over his MCMG t-shirt.

"Why?"

"Because you promised you wouldn't get hurt."

"Sorry."

"So I'm mad at you."

"You sound like a five year old." I pointed out.

"You shouldn't be mean to the person whose made at you." He struck back.

"Well…ah…" I looked down at my pancakes before back up to Alex. Pulling a face I reluctantly pushed the plate towards him. "Truce?"

"Okay." He hopped happily into the seat beside me and began eating the pancakes quickly. "You know the way to my heart."

I rolled my eyes at him before poking him in the arm.

"What woman?"

"I'm sorry." I gave him my own pout.

"Just don't do it again."

"Promise!"

"Okay, now go see Chris, he's mad too and food won't help." He advised.

"How about sex?"

My sister choked from where she stood at the stove, her face growing red. Alex's own face was growing rather red as well.

"But he can't move."

"No, but I can." I winked at him before jumping off the chair and skipped over to Chris' room. I heard Alex grumble a few choice words behind me and chose to ignore him for now. As I arrived at Chris' room, I knocked softly. He looked up before sending me an identical pout as Alex's. "I'm sorry!"

"You got hurt!" he protested, pointing at my head.

"I know, and I apologize for being an idiot. I can't promise it won't happen again because I'm bound to continue doing stupid things. It's in my nature." I shrugged, plopping down in the chair next to him. "Please forgive me."

He eyed me for a moment before nodding. "Fine, but only because I heard you'll give me free sex."

"I never said it was free." I shot him a wicked look. "I do have a price you know."

"Aw, but to me your priceless."

"As cute as that sounds Chrissy, so not working. Pay up." I smirked.

His pout returned. "But I'm in pain!"

"Hm, that's true. I'd have to be extra careful. That'll be twice the normal rate."

"No more sex talk, my ears can't take it." Alex walked into the room, his hands over his ears.

"Your just jealous cuz you wanted to prostitute yourself off to Chris first." I stuck my tongue out at him.

"Pfft! I'm just upset that my prostitute is going elsewhere."

"Ew! I have standards Alex!"

"Mean." He sat on the edge of Chris' bed, his eyes wide and faking tears.

"You're a horrible faker." I flicked him in the nose.

He blinked at me before smirking widely. He grabbed me up and threw me over his shoulders before I could do anything to stop him. I yelled at him to let me down, but he just snickered and walked out of the room. As he entered the kitchen, the boys had returned and were now eating breakfast with Stephanie. They all shot us confused glances as Alex opened the back door and brought me out into the backyard. I was confused at first, but then I realized what was out there.

"No no no! Don't even think about it!" I screeched as he continued to step closer to the full pool.

He slapped my ass for a moment before throwing me over his shoulder. I screamed before I connected with the cold water. As I came back up for air, I glared daggers at Alex, who stood there with a satisfied smirk on his face. Wanting to get him back, I faked asking for help back out, saying my head was hurting. He seemed to believe that as he bent down to help me up. As soon as he was close enough, I grabbed his arm and pulled him into the pool with me.

"Bitch!" he wiped the water from his eyes as we floated next to each other.

"You did it first meanie." I splashed him.

He splashed me back and before we knew it, we had gotten into a splashing fight. After a bit, we began to grow bored, and just floated around the cold pool. Eventually I began to grow cold and pulled myself up onto the side until my feet were just dangling in the water. My PJ pants and t-shirt were now soaking wet as I pushed my wet long hair out of my face.

"Well that was fun." Alex pulled him self up beside me, sending me a large grin.

I couldn't help but laugh as I pushed him slightly. "Are we even now?"

"Yeah yeah, sounds good." He snickered before standing up and holding out a hand.

A wicked idea came to mind as I accepted the hand. As soon as I was on my feet, I pushed the Detroit man back into the pool before racing to the house.

"I'm so going to get you Tess!"

* * *

**A/N:** So i thought a nice light happy chapter was just what we needed after everything lol OOOOOO Impact is on!!!!!!!!


	126. Chapter One Hundred and Twenty Five

**Chapter 125:**

It had been a week since the impact tapings, and I was able to convince everyone to go back to work. It had taking some begging of course, but my mother and father were back on the road with the shows, as were Paul and Shawn. Stephanie went back to being the amazing mother she was, leaving Alex, Chris and I to our own devices. Chris was finally starting to walk, though I was still apprehensive about it. I hated see the look of pain crossing his face every few minutes. But he was insistent on getting out of bed and doing something.

Thankfully this night I was able to convince him to sit his ass down on the couch as we all watched Raw together. Shane and Rebecca had come over to keep up company, my favorite nephew being babysat by Becky's sister. It was nice to have them around, without having the rest of the family breathing down my neck making sure I was alright.

"I totally forgot DX was back." I mused.

"Don't tell those two that, they assume you watch every week." Shane snickered.

"Oh yeah, because I don't have a life or anything." I rolled my eyes as I slapped Alex on the shoulder. "Leave Chris alone, he's hurt."

"So am I!" he defended, rubbing the sore spot.

"Just in the head, so nothing new." I stuck my tongue out at him, earning a chuckle from the others in the room.

"She's got you there dude." Chris nodded from where he sat in the chair beside the couch, shifting a moment before becoming comfortable again.

"You're supposed to defend me. What kind of friend are you?" Alex pulled on a pout.

"The honest kind." Chris just smirked.

"Ha, I totally have Chris on my side!"

"Meanie." Alex slid down on the couch, looking like a five year old not getting his way.

"Aw you know I love ya."

"Shut up sis, we're trying to watch the show!" Shane threw a pillow at me.

"Shane!" I threw the pillow back. "Becky, tell your husband he shouldn't throw things at people."

"You threw it back." Shane defended.

"Self Defense you twat."

"Oh, new vocabulary? Shocking." Shane shot me a smug look.

"Yeah, it's called my fist in your face."

"Come on you two." Becky rolled her eyes,

I stuck my tongue out at Shane before standing up, declaring I needed food. Alex immediately followed, rubbing his stomach eagerly. Chris attempted to get up, but grumbled as pain wracked through him.

"No, it's okay; don't help me up or anything."

"Okay!" Alex and I shouted back in unison.

I giggled as we made it into the kitchen and I began searching out food. Finding a bag of popcorn I grinned and stuck it into the microwave.

"So, your family is actually a lot less scary than I thought they would be." Alex commented from where he sat at the island.

"Most people say that." I chuckled, sitting up beside him. "They really aren't as bad as people make them out to be."

"They aren't as bad as you make them out to be." He corrected.

"True." I nodded with a laugh. "They've really pulled through though. Couldn't ask for a better family. Surprisingly."

"They are great." Alex agreed.

I smiled to myself as I glanced through the French doors leading into the den where we were watching the show. Chris was shifting in his chair again, while Becky was curled up beside her husband, her head on his chest while his arms lay around her. They looked so cute together, and there was no questioning why my brother had married her. They were completely in love, just as Stephanie and Paul were. I couldn't imagine feeling like that. I never had, and I was beginning to doubt I ever would.

"Have you ever been in love?" I asked Alex suddenly.

"Hm?" he raised an eyebrow.

I got up to grab the popcorn from the microwave and sat back down beside him. "Have you ever been in love?"

He shrugged as he ripped open the bag and began digging in. "I thought I was."

"Oh?"

"I dated this girl for almost two years that ended just over a year ago. I thought I loved her, but I don't know." He frowned.

"What happened?"

He sighed as he ran a hand through his dark hair. "Turned out she wasn't ready for commitment and I was. She just wanted to keep things casual. But we dated for two years; casual ended 6 months after we started dating."

"You actually wanted to commit, that's a bit…"

"Surprising?" he laughed. "Yeah, it was for me too. But I don't know. I really thought I loved her, you know? Couldn't imagine not having her in my life."

"So she just broke up with you?"

"Yep, right before you came into TNA actually. It was pretty rough. One of the reasons I did the Paparazzi thing. While yeah, I was being blackmailed and needed the money, it helped to get my mind off her. Worked pretty well too." Alex sighed again, a sad look crossing his face. "Haven't been with a woman since her to be honest."

"I'm sorry. That's really horrible. But I guess its better to know someone's not the one than to go through life wondering if they were the best choice." I laid a hand on his arm.

"Yeah I guess." He shrugged before plastering on a smile. "But whatever, it's done. Moving on with my life."

He hopped off the stool and headed back into the den. I however sat there in the kitchen for a few more moments. From the look on Alex's face, I could tell he still wasn't over his breakup, no matter how long ago it was. I couldn't blame him. I had never been in a serious relationship as that before, but I could imagine that it would be hard to move on from that.

* * *

"So I'm bored and can't sleep." Alex plopped onto my bed later that night.

I looked up from the book I was reading, raising an eyebrow as he lay across my bed beside me.

"Amuse me?" he pouted.

I couldn't help but laugh as I threw the book onto my desk. "How do you want me to do that?"

"Free sex?"

"Sorry, I charge remember." I smirked.

"mean." Was all he replied before we fell into a comfortable silence. After a few moments, he shot me a curious glance. "So, since you asked me if I've ever been in love, have you?"

"No." I shook my head before sliding my body down so I was lying next to him. "I don't even think Daniels and I were really ever even close. I guess I would have liked if we were, but I know now that we weren't."

"There's been no one else? High school sweetheart? Fellow trainee?" he questioned.

"Nada. I didn't really date throughout high school. It was pretty hard when I was either on the road with my father, or the guys at school were scared to death that some of the guys working for my father would be sent to kill them if they tried anything. I casually dated a few times between graduating and going to TNA, but nothing remotely seriously."

"That's a bit surprising." He mused.

"Why's that?"

"Well considering how beautiful you are, I'd assume you'd have guys lining up to try and be with you." He shrugged.

I blushed at his comment. "Not even close to the case."

"Which is surprising." He turned onto his side so he was facing me. "So why did you ask me if I've ever been in love before?"

"Just was curious I guess." I yawned.

"Tired?" he chuckled.

"No." I shot back, though I only ended up yawning again.

"I'll leave so you can sleep." He rolled his eyes, about to get off the bed.

"No, stay." I pulled him back down, earning a confused look from him. "I still wanna talk."

Alex snickered but nodded and slid back beside me on the bed. We talked for a bit longer before I yawned for a third time. Alex insisted that he leave, but I would always stop him. It was another half an hour before I could feel my eyelids dropping. I turned to find the closest pillow, and found Alex instead. Not really thinking, I curled up against him and began drifting off to sleep.

* * *

**A/N: **AWWWWWW how cute :) i've slowed down up my updates, i know, im bad....thought i'd give my hands a break from typing so much. but i'm back today and ready to type away again!

Oh, and did you all see how sexy Alex and Chris were last night!!!! like holy cow, you think they can't possibly get any hotter, and they do...seriously think i need to stalk them once i get back to Windsor in the fall.....Windsor...Detroit....its all very close.....that doesn't make me sound like a crazy person does it :p


	127. Chapter One Hundred and Twenty Six

**Chapter 126:**

"This whole private jet thing rocks." Alex's eyes were wide as he glanced around at everything.

I laughed from where I sat beside Chris, helping him take the seat belt off as I could tell it was causing him pain. Both Alex and Chris had started complaining by mid week that they wanted to go home. I didn't think Chris was ready to get on a plane yet, but everyone else seemed to agree it would be a good idea. So my father offered the private jet to take them to Detroit. I was reluctant, but finally agreed to them leaving, as long as I went to make sure they were fine for a few days. While I knew Alex would be fine in taking care of himself, Chris was still in a good amount of pain and his walking was limited. I felt I had to go and help him, at least until I left for the PPV Saturday night.

"Dude, you have X Box!"

I rolled my eyes. "Alex, you're mental."

"I'm not mental, I've just never been in a private jet before." He shrugged, walking around now as we were safely up in the air. "This is just crazy. Dude, Halo?"

Chris' eyes brightened as he nodded wildly. Chuckling, I helped Chris up and over to the couch across from the flat screen TV. Alex got the game ready as I sat between the two boys. They played for what seemed like ages. While the trip wasn't that long to Detroit, I always grew tired on planes, and found myself drifting in and out of sleep. I subconsciously lay my head on Alex's shoulder, not even realizing it. He seemed to not mind as he wrapped an arm around me and pulled me closer as the two played.

A few hours later we were told that we would be landing shortly. I reluctantly left the comfortable position next to Alex and helped Chris back into his seat. Before we knew it, we were landing in Detroit. I laughed as I found my father had gotten us a limo to take us to Alex and Chris' house. I could only shake my head in disbelief as we piled into the stretch limo. The boys seemed to enjoy it, and I had to admit it was a pretty genius idea as Chris had enough room to spread out for the short trip.

I had only been to Alex and Chris' house once before, and that was when I returned at Bound For Glory. It looked exactly the same as I remembered it as we finally arrived. Alex and I immediately got Chris situated on the couch, making sure he had everything, before Alex dragged me upstairs. It was there that we realized the third member of the house was home.

"Whoa, hey!" Petey walked out of his room, eyes wide as he saw us. "Didn't know you were coming home."

"Thought you'd be in Orlando dude." Alex shrugged. "Chris is downstairs lounging on the couch."

"How's he doing?" Petey leaned against the doorway, a concerned look on his face. "How are you doing?"

"I'm fine. He's still having a hard time getting around. He said he'll be sleeping down there until he can get up stairs."

Petey nodded before he flashed his attention over to me. "How are you? Last time I saw you, you were being taken to the hospital."

"I'm fine. Thanks."

He smiled before stating he was going to go see Chris and headed down the stairs. Alex pulled me again into his room before he crashed onto his bed.

"God I'm tired." He sighed.

I glanced around his room, his walls clad with band posters.

"So you can probably stay in Chris' room since he'll be down there." Alex propped himself up on his elbows. "Or you can stay in here if you feel awkward doing that or anything."

I bit my lip. Alex, apparently able to read my mind now, nodded as he patted the spot next to him on the bed. I hesitated for a moment before slowly walking over to his bed and sitting down beside him. I shouldn't have felt so awkward being on a bed with him. The last few nights we had spent sleeping next to one another anyways. I found the only way I could possibly sleep anymore was to have someone around. I suppose it was the safety issue. While I knew no one would jump out of a closet, of come smashing through a window, I couldn't help feel apprehensive. Alex seemed to understand that and would always come into my room late at night and fall asleep with me. It was the few nights I had actually slept soundly in a very long time. So why did it feel so awkward all of a sudden when it came to sleeping in his room?

"Everything okay?" Alex shoved down the sheets before motioning me to lie down.

I nodded as I followed him and lay next to him on the bed. Alex pulled the covers over us, instinctively wrapping an arm around my waist. That seemed to calm down my nerves as I curled up next to him

"Night babe."

* * *

"Maybe you shouldn't go to the PPV." Petey scratched the back of his neck Saturday morning. "I mean, considering everything right now."

"I'm not going to be scared away Petey." I shook my head, a determined look on my face.

"Please don't go." Chris pouted, putting an arm around me as I sat next to him on the couch.

"I have to." I insisted.

"No you don't." Alex pointed out. "Take some time off."

"But…"

"He'd never expect it." Petey interrupted.

"He'd just say I was a coward." I grumbled, shaking my head. "I'm not a coward. I'm going there and I'm going to kick Punk's ass!"

"But if you don't go, and then take some time off, he'll never know when to expect you to show back up." Alex persuaded. "You'd have the upper hand. He wouldn't expect it whenever you do go back. It'd be perfect."

"But…"

"Right now Tess, as much as you don't want to hear it, you're losing." Alex bit his lip, apprehensive of how I would take whatever he had to say. "Anytime you try and get revenge, he just puts you back in the hospital. But if you did this, if you took a few weeks or so off, you'd get the upper hand! That's the only way you're going to win against him Tess. You need the control. You can't get the control if you go out to the ring every week, attacking him for every comment he says."

I opened my mouth to respond, but I couldn't find the words. He was right, as usual. All that seemed to be happening was me getting hurt every week, I even could admit that. I didn't want that to continue. I had already promised my family I would be more careful. Alex was right, if I could get the upper hand, I could finally win this thing. And sadly, the only way I would get the upper hand, was to not go to the PPV and take some time off. As much as I didn't want to, I knew that's what had to be done.

I sighed before nodding. "Fine. I won't go."

"Great!" Chris grinned. "You can spend time with us then!"

I rolled my eyes. "That's the only reason you wanted me to stay. Selfish."

"Hey, whatever works." Chris winked.

I slapped him over the head before shooting a glance over at Alex.

"I'll do this on one condition."

"What's that?" Alex looked unsure.

"I need to wrestle somewhere. I can't spend weeks just not wrestling. I need to wrestle somewhere. Anywhere."

Alex thought for a moment, before his eyes brightened. "I think I can do that."

* * *

**A/N:** I was watching the Windsor Welcome Week video from last year and it brought back awesome memories of first year....gosh, i cant believe i'm going into 2nd year....its almost as unbelievable on how long i've been writing this fic.....years....wow

anyways, i'll try and get off memory lane :p


	128. Chapter One Hundred and Twenty Seven

**Chapter 127:**

"Oh god, this is why I usually don't sit home and watch PPV's." I winched, covering my face with my hands as Daniels was struck by a chair. "I can understand how my family feels when they watch me."

Alex chuckled as he plopped down next to me on the couch, Chris settled on the other side of me. He passed the popcorn, wincing himself as the other members of Triple X got the same treatment.

"This is brutal." I whined, deciding on not watching the TV at all. I couldn't take just sitting there, miles and miles away from where they are, and not being able to do anything. This was complete torture.

"Its actually more brutal than I thought it would be." Chris stated. "Aren't you glad you stayed back?"

"Surprisingly yes. Poor Petey got put through a table." I frowned, the previous matches going through my mind. "What matches are left?"

"Jay and Adam vs. Cabana and Punk and Jarrett vs. Styles." Alex answered.

"Those two are going to be horrible." I pouted.

"Don't worry. They can handle themselves." Alex wrapped an arm around me.

"I know, but I can't help but worry. It's worse not being able to do anything." I sighed.

"You don't have to watch if you don't want. We can turn it off." Chris offered.

"No, you guys can watch. I think I'm gonna go do something else though." I bit my lip. Watching what had happened so far tonight, I don't think I could handle seeing the next two matches. "Mind if I crash in your room Alex?"

He shook his head as I stood and headed towards the stairs. I ignored the worried looks on the two men's faces and headed up and into Alex's room. I flopped onto his bed and stared up at the ceiling. I wished I hadn't agreed to stay here and went with Petey to the PPV. It was hard to just watch it all happening and not being able to do anything. I couldn't even make sure any of them were alright, and that killed. I wish I could have been there, for support even. From the events of tonight, Punk's side seemed to be getting stronger and stronger, and that feared me. What If we couldn't take them down? What if it was impossible to defeat them all?

"Tess?"

I glanced up and saw Alex in the door way.

"You alright?" he walked in and sat beside me on the bed.

I shrugged, pushing myself up into a sitting position. "Just hard to watch them get hurt like that."

"I get that. It's worse when you can't be with them."

"I'm glad I'm not there and all; I just wish I could have been so I could give them all support. We've lost almost every single match tonight, they all must be feeling defeated." I frowned.

"They know your supporting them even if your not there." Alex wrapped his arms around me.

"I guess."

"We'll call them after the show." He promised. "You can make sure they're all alright. How does that sound?"

"Best I'm going to get." I sighed heavily. "Have you gotten the wrestling figured out for me yet?"

He nodded with a small smile. "Got a call saying everything would work out."

"So where am I wrestling?"

"Ring of Honor."

My face fell. It wasn't that I didn't want to wrestle there, because I did. Ring of Honor was amazing, and I felt honored that I could wrestle alongside some of the best in the world. But after what happened last time I was there, I was apprehensive. Would they welcome me with open arms again? Would Punk ruin the weekend like last time?

"I know what your thinking, and don't worry. No one hates you or anything. Actually I got a bunch of texts asking if you'd be going back at all." Alex assured me.

"What if Punk does something again though?" I chewed on my nail worriedly.

"I only got you booked for the one night, so there's less of a chance he'll try something, and all the guys will be there anyways. None of them have taken lightly to what they did to us, especially Jimmy and BJ."

"I guess."

"Unfortunately Chris and I can't go. That's the only draw back." Alex frowned. "Chris can't get back on a plane, and I should probably stay with him."

"I'm not going to go if you can't be there." I shook my head.

"I figured since the Friday show is in Connecticut, you could fly home Friday, and then Roderick and Austin, and whoever else is travelling with them, could pick you up Saturday morning and then you can all drive to New York which isn't that far. They're going to be going past Stamford anyways, so it would make the most sense. Austin and Roddy already said they'd drive you back up to Stamford Sunday morning."

I shot him a shocked look. "You really planned this out didn't you?"

He chuckled. "Well I figured you wouldn't want to go without us, so I had to. The only time where anything could happen is during the show, but you'd have everyone around so you'd be completely safe."

I thought about it for a moment. It was rather well thought out, which was surprising considering it was Alex. But it did sound rather safe. And it would be nice to see Roderick and Austin again, as well as the girls. Our weekend getting to know one another was cut short because of what happened, so this would be a way to right that. And working in ROH was now definitely a high priority on my list of things to do. While it would suck not to have Alex and Chris there, I knew I wouldn't have to worry about anything with the others.

"Daniels will be there too." He mentioned. "Dunno if that helps or anything."

"Alright, it sounds good. You already got me booked and everything?"

"Yeppers. Cary is excited to have you come back. Final Battle is probably one of the best shows anyways."

"When is it?"

"This weekend actually. So it's a good thing you said yes." He laughed.

"Awesome. I could really use some kicking ass right now." I grinned. "Thanks Alex. I appreciate this."

"Anything for you." He pulled me closer. "Just promise me you'll actually be safe this time."

"Promise."

* * *

"Thank god Dad isn't home." I sat on the stairs waiting on Austin and Roderick that Saturday morning. "He wouldn't approve of this at all."

"You're lucky he's in Europe for the week." Stephanie nodded, holding my niece in her arms. "Please be careful."

"I will, don't worry." My eyes brightened as I heard a car in the drive way. That must be them!"

"Alright, give me a hug kid."

I rolled my eyes but hugged my sister tightly, kissing my niece of the head before grabbing my bag and bounding out of the house. I waved to the two before greeting the three men who were waiting for me at their car.

"Aussie!" I hugged the man tightly.

"God, another one using that name." He groaned but happily hugged me all the same. "The guys doing alright?"

"Yeah, Chris is just still having a hard time moving around." I answered, moving to hug Roderick.

"You remember Davey." Austin nodded at the other man there.

"I do. Hey." I smiled.

He nodded with a smile as well while Roderick put my bag in the back.

"Let's hit the road."

* * *

**A/N:** w00t, i seem to be having another crazy updating day lol. tho my eyes are burning....im sure that has nothing to do with looking at a screen all day...not at all lol


	129. Chapter One Hundred and Twenty Eight

**Chapter 128:**

"Damnit!" Mark Briscoe threw down his cards in defeat.

"Man Up." Jay Briscoe shot at his younger brother with a smirk.

"Both of you Man Up and call it a day." I laid down my winning hand. "I win, again."

"Damn." Jay grumbled, handing over the money.

"Thank you." I snatched the money from their hands happily. We had spent the past half hour playing poker, and the poor brothers had no idea I was quite good at the game. That's what happens when you grow up the way I did.

"I say she's cheating." Mark frowned.

"Or you're both just really bad." I plastered an innocent look on my face.

"I like her." Jay snickered.

"She insulted you too." Mark pointed out.

"Yeah, but we all know she meant it more at you." He replied smugly.

I rolled my eyes at the two brothers. They were rather humorous to be around. "Another round?"

"Your match is up soon." Jay shook his head. "Should probably head towards the curtain."

"Damn, and I was looking at taking all your money." I pouted.

"You already did." Mark poked me in the arm. "Go steal someone else's money."

"Oh I will, don't you worry." I assured him with a smirk as I handed over the cards to Jay and hopped off the chair in the makeshift catering area.

"Anyone going out there with you?" Mark and Jay stood as well.

I shook my head. "I'll be fine. I'm going against Ally anyways, so if anything happened Daniels will be down there."

"We could go with you." Jay offered.

"It's fine, really. You two can walk me to the curtain though if you'd like."

"Oh we will." Mark laid a hand on my shoulder and led us from the room.

I had grown quite fond of these two, and I had only really gotten to know them in the few hours we had been at the venue. The two were so adorable; they were like two brothers that attached themselves to me. I had a feeling everyone was told to baby sit me backstage, and while I knew that was probably half the reason the Briscoes felt the need to befriend me, I didn't mind. The two were hilarious to watch bicker with one another.

"Are you sure you don't want us to go down there with you?" Jay eyed the area as we made it to the curtain.

"I'm sure. Thanks for babysitting me." I winked at the two before my music starting playing. "Wish me luck."

I didn't hear their response as I pushed back the curtain and relished in the cheering crowd. I clapped the hands as I made it down the short aisle and hopped up onto the ring apron. I shot a quick smile at Allison and Daniels across the ring before posing on the turnbuckle. I jumped down into the ring, posing again on the other side. As the fans began to settle, I pulled off my MCMG shirt and handed it off with my Knockouts title. I glanced across at Allison one last time before the bell rang, signaling the start of the match.

* * *

The match had gone fifteen minutes before Allison was able to pin me. Even though I lost I couldn't help but let out a small smile. After Allison posed, she came over to where I knelt and held out a hand. I gratefully took it, standing up on my feet. She immediately held up my arm in victory, showing her respect. We hugged quickly before she and Daniels left the ring. I made to leave on the other side, grabbing my title on the way, but I was stopped. Three masked men came out of the crowd and jumped into the ring. I backed up as the three cornered me into a turnbuckle. My eyes were wide as I tried to figure out who they were. But I didn't even have to guess to know they had something to do with Punk.

Before I even had a chance to try and fight my way from the three, loud cheers rang through the building. Confused, I looked over at saw the Rottweilers slipping into the ring and attacking the masked men. I watched in shock as the Rickey Reyes and Rocky Romero did their signature move, Homicide ending with a Cop Killa. I barely could blink before Homicide had made his way over, Reyes and Romero throwing the masked men from the ring.

"Shelley told me to look out for you." He explained, eyeing me up and down. "You good?"

I nodded. I couldn't speak; I was just too shocked Alex had told Homicide of all people to watch out for me. As Homicide motioned for me to leave the ring, the Rottweilers following close behind, I tried to wrap my mind around everything. It did make complete sense, Homicide and LAX were technically fighting on our side in TNA. And he and the Rottweilers were pretty deadly when they wanted to be, so I could understand Alex calling on him of all people. There were a lot of people who could have helped me, but Homicide was definitely on the top of the list.

"We'll take you to Roderick and Austin." He grabbed onto my elbow and began leading me quickly through the halls.

I didn't argue as Reyes and Romero followed closely behind us. It was a short trip before we arrived at the locker room. Homicide knocked until a voice called for us to enter.

"I'll leave you here. Try and keep out of trouble." He smirked before motioning to his team mates and heading down the hall.

"Thank you!" I called after them.

I shook my head before grasping the door handle. I pushed it open and entered the room, closing the door behind me. I almost wished I didn't when I looked up and saw Austin and Roderick lying unconscious on the floor. My eyes widened as I went to rush over to them. However, I was stopped when I realized who was standing opposite of me in the room.

"I thought it would be rude if I didn't say hello while here." Punk smirked.

I gulped as I inched towards the door. However, I never noticed Cabana and Corino in the room as they caught onto my arms, holding me to the spot.

"The poor guys thought they could fight us." Punk kicked at Austin and Roderick's lifeless bodies.

I struggled against Cabana and Corino, but they held onto me tightly.

"Oh I wouldn't fight at all McMahon." He snickered, walking over the two bodies until he was only inches from me. He grabbed onto my chin sharply, his smirk growing. "In fact, if I were you, I would just cooperate unless you want something worse to happen to those two."

My face paled as I stopped struggling. I wasn't going to take a chance and let them hurt Austin and Roderick worse than they already have.

"I'm hurt you never showed up at the PPV. Did I do something wrong?" He mocked me.

I gritted my teeth. I wanted to hit him; I wanted to spit in his face. But I knew this wasn't the time. I had to think of the two unconscious men in the room.

"That just doesn't sit right with me. How am I supposed to ruin your life if your not there." He took a step forward, now towering over me. "I can only destroy your friends so much. It gets boring after awhile." He let go of my chin, only to slap me across the face. I muffled a winch, not wanting to give him the satisfaction. "You forced my hand McMahon, I had to come here and make sure I got your attention somehow. Unfortunately Homicide tried to get in the way, but don't worry, we'll take care of him later."

Punk nodded at the two holding onto me, which forced them to tighten their hold on my arms. Punk turned back and walked to where he previously was. He picked up a chair, one I supposed he used on Austin and Roderick, and turned around. I groaned inwardly, knowing what would inevitably happen. I was surprised however, when Punk moved around us and towards the door. Before I fully understood what was going on, I felt the two begin to drag me behind Punk, who was still holding the chair. I again began to struggle against the two, feeling a bit braver as we moved father from my two friends.

"I'm sorry McMahon, but this is what happens when you don't show up." Punk shot me a cruel look before pushing past the curtain leading out to the ring.

Jimmy Rave had just defeated Nigel McGuinness, meaning the Embassy was already out there. My heart began to beat faster as the crowd booed loudly and I was pushed into the ring. I tried to slip back out, but Rave had caught me by the waist and held me in place. I could spot Nigel tried to get back into the ring to do something, But Corino threw him into the ring barricades. Punk just smirked as he stood across from me in the ring, ignoring the comments being thrown to him by the fans.

I half expected him to backtalk to the crowd, but he didn't even attempt to. Instead, he motioned for Cabana and Corino to get back into the ring. Rave held onto me tightly, and before I knew it, the steel chair was being smashed across my head. I groaned as I was pushed to the mat. However, that wasn't the end of it. I felt the chair being wrapped around my right leg, which made my eyes widened. I tried to struggle, but Rave held me down. I screamed out in pain as Corino came crashing down onto my leg, the chair causing even more pain. They all stomped on my leg multiple times before it was moved up to around my knee. Another chair was brought out and before I could blink, it was being smashed continuously across my leg. Tears were running down my face, mixing with the blood from the first chair shot. The pain was just too much for me. I couldn't take this. My leg was on fire, I didn't think it was possible to feel this much pain before.

Thankfully the rest of the locker room had taken that opportunity to run down to the ring before they could do even worse, which I knew they would try to do. I felt the chair being ripped off my leg, as someone knelt down beside me.

"Shit, Tess, are you alright?" Daniels asked hurriedly.

I couldn't speak, all I could do was shake my head as I tried to grab onto my leg. However, pain flashed through me as I just lightly touched it.

"I'm getting you out of here, don't worry." He slid me closer to the edge of the ring before sliding out.

He pulled me under the ropes, with help from others holding it up. He wrapped his arm around my back and carefully under my legs and pulled me into his arms. I clung to him tightly as I sobbed into the crook of his neck. The fans were on their feet at that point, clapping in respect as I was carried to the back.

"Austin and Roderick." I croaked out.

"We'll go check on them." The Briscoes assured, hurrying off in the direction of their locker room.

"I'm taking you to the hospital." Daniels stated.

"We're coming with you." BJ and Jimmy pulled up beside us.

"Just get me out of here."

* * *

**A/N:** Oh no!!!!!! evil Punk, hurting her leg :( how sad. what will happen now?

while i've made him incredibly easy to hate, i just need to mention how friggin hot Punk is in real life....like wow.....i only saw the first 5-10 min and last half hour of SD (watching it fully in half an hour w00t) but i just want to state that i'm fully behind Punk.....clearly his eye is injured...and he's prone to eye injuries as Rave totally liked to spray bug spray into his face in ROH, so he clearly is more sensitive in that area.....Punk is totally totally in the right....stupid Jeff Hardy....hahaha oh, and anyone notice that you get like a Vocabulary session anytime Jericho does a promo? its like ten times better than english class hahaha


	130. Chapter One Hundred and Twenty Nine

**Chapter 129:**

"You didn't have to travel all the way to Detroit with me." I grumbled as Daniels helped me from the car before picking me up in his arms.

"I wanted to make sure you got here safely." He stated, moving around his car and towards where Alex stood on the porch of their house.

"I shouldn't have let you gone." Alex's face was white. "I'm so sorry babe."

"She'll be out for 4-6 weeks while her leg heals." Daniels informed as Alex led us into the house.

"Put her on the couch." Chris immediately jumped up, and ignoring his own pain, motioned for Daniels to put me down.

I sniffed as I tried to keep the tears at bay as he softly sat me on the couch, immediately putting my injured leg up on a few pillows.

"Are you okay sweetie?" Alex knelt down beside me, grabbing onto my hand softly.

I just shook my head. I was too distraught to even speak. I had cried over the past few days after what had happened at the show. The doctors had informed me I would need to have surgery. Daniels had driven me up to my parent's home at my father's request, and that evening he had gotten me into surgery. A few days later I was released from the hospital and only wanted to go back to Detroit. While I loved my family, and knew they wanted to help me through this, I just needed Alex and Chris right now. They understood what I was going through; they were going through the exact same thing. Daniels had offered to travel with me, which I appreciated a lot. While we were no longer romantically involved, I was glad to still have him in my life. He had turned into a guardian angel over the past few weeks, something I never expected from a former boyfriend.

"Thank you." Alex glanced up at Daniels. "For bringing her here. Thanks."

"She didn't want to be anywhere else." Daniels glanced around the room before stopping on Alex and Chris. "You two will take care of her right?"

"We will. You have our word." Chris nodded immediately.

"Do you want me to stay at all Tess?" he asked.

"No, it's okay." I shook my head, speaking softly.

"Are you sure?"

I nodded. I didn't want to keep him away from work. He had done enough for me over the past few days.

"Alright." He bent down and kissed me on the forehead. "Rest. Call me and let me know how you're doing. Don't even think about doing anything until you're healed. That's an order."

He kissed my cheek before reluctantly leaving. Alex immediately began asking if I needed anything, as did Chris. I just shook my head as I tried to get comfortable. Unfortunately, it was quite hard to do with my leg in tremendous pain.

"Do you wanna go up to my room and rest?" Alex caught the look on my face.

I nodded slightly, and before I knew it, he was sweeping me up in his arms. I held onto him as he slowly began up the stairs, not wanting to hurt me at all. As he arrived in his room, he gently put me on the bed, propping up my leg and pulling the covers over me.

"There you go." He ran a hand through my hair before turning and beginning to leave.

"Wait, can you stay with me?" I grabbed onto his hand, holding onto it tightly. "Please?"

He took one look at me and nodded. He slid into the bed beside me, putting his arm around me. I curled as much as I could into him without my leg hurting and closed my eyes tightly. I wished I could turn back the clock and change everything. How would I be able to get revenge against Punk if I couldn't even walk?

* * *

Christmas came all too soon, and I don't think Alex or Chris had ever seen so many presents before in their life. Everyone had sent along multiple presents, wishing me well. I could hardly believe everyone went to this sort of trouble, just for me. Even my family had mailed a handful of presents, and surprisingly, even some for Alex and Chris as well.

Christmas was just what I needed to lift my spirits. I had been down right depressed since getting back to Detroit with my injured leg. I'm sure Alex and Chris were trying their best to deal with me, but I wasn't exactly being easy. But the holiday spirit somehow flooded through me and last night a complete change happened. It was hard to be grouchy at Christmas.

Alex had carried me down from his bedroom late Christmas morning, meeting up with both Chris and Petey who were sitting in the living room waiting for us.

"Merry Christmas!" Chris grinned from ear to ear like a child.

I chuckled. I couldn't blame his reaction though. Christmas brought out a kid in everyone.

"Merry Christmas to you guys too." I smiled back as Alex sat me on the couch, propping my leg up on the coffee table.

Petey, who was sitting on the floor comfortably, began handing out a few presents to everyone from under the tree. The tree itself was hilarious. Alex and Petey, in an attempt to cheer me up, had put up a tree the day after I returned here. Of course the decorations were lopsided, and half of the Christmas lights didn't work, I appreciated their effort. I actually couldn't imagine a better tree. It seemed to fit their personalities perfectly.

"Open my present first!" Chris insisted, pointing to the small box closest to me.

I nodded as I grabbed the present and ripped the wrapping off in a split second. Taking the top off the box, I smiled as I saw the dog chain necklace. I lifted it up and felt touched by the engraving on one side:

_Tess McMahon_

_Motor City Machine Gun_

"Now you're an official Gun." He leaned over and kissed the side of my head.

"Thank you, I love it." I hugged him tightly.

"Oh, and," he flipped it over, showing an engraved pink studded heart.

"Perfect." I slipped it on over my head. "Minus the whole not being from Detroit thing."

"Which leads me to my gift." Petey handed me a gift bag.

I pulled out the tissue paper before pulling out a picture of what looked oddly like Petey's room. I raised an eyebrow as I glanced over at Petey.

"I'm going to be honest, I don't get it."

He laughed. "The guys and I already talked it over, and I'm planning on moving to Orlando with Eric, so we're closer to the show, which means I won't be needing to live here."

"And this is a present to me how? I won't see you at all? Yayness."

He rolled his eyes. "I thought you'd like to have it."

"Like move in?" I looked around at them all, my eyes wide in surprise.

"Well, if you'd like." Alex nodded, a wide smile on his face. "We love you being around. It'll be weird when you go back to Orlando. I know you prob want to still live there with Jay and Jeff and whatever, but it'd be a place to get away from everything. And it's free."

"You really want me to move in here?" I could feel tears springing to my eyes, but out of happiness. I couldn't believe that these two cared this much about me to want me to move in.

"It'd mean the world to us." Chris nodded.

I grinned with a nod. How could I say no to them?

"That brings me to the next part. Since giving you my room isn't much of a present, my actual present is helping you redecorate it to your girly standards." Petey chuckled.

"Aw, Petey!" I went to hug him but realized he was too far away. "Air hug!"

Petey laughed and stood up, bending down to give me a tight hug. He ruffled my hair before going back onto the floor. We continued to open presents, sometimes laughing at some of the crazy things we got. Chris grew embarrassed at whatever Alex had given him as part of his gift, and when I tried to peer into the bag, Chris shoved it to the side quickly, red in the face. I shrugged before tearing apart the horrible wrapping job Alex managed to do on his gift to me.

"You need to learn how to wrap a present." I stated, trying to figure it out.

Alex shrugged in response, a smirk on his face. Finally I was able to figure it out, and felt awed as I saw an IPod staring up at me.

"You didn't!" I tried to pull open the box with a bit of difficulty.

Alex laughed before taking the box from my hands and opening it. He handed me over the Pink IPod, which I grabbed happily.

"Oh my god you're the bestest friend ever!" I hugged him tightly.

"It'll give you something to do while your sitting around not able to do anything." He wrapped an arm around me. "You like?"

"Of course! You really didn't have to Alex, this must have been expensive."

He just shrugged. "You're worth it."

I felt touched at that and hugged him again.

"I already loaded a bunch of awesome tunes on there." He admitted. "And when I say awesome I mean awesome. None of that 311 crap."

"Its not crap!" Chris defended.

"Yeah, sure dude. Whatever you say."

* * *

**A/N:** awwwww, Daniels is so cute and nice :) so is Alex, Chris, and Petey :D

Oh, so i saw most of SD this time around, and damn...Punk is so hot lol. Gosh, when this is done...i think i may have to write a Punk story....tho this time making him a good boy....cuz it breaks my heart to make someone so sexy, so mean :( lol


	131. Chapter One Hundred and Thirty

**Chapter 130:**

The next month was hectic. Petey had moved all of his things out after a week, and drove down to Florida. I asked him to stop by my apartment and get some of my belongings. That was when I got the surprise that Jeff was actually moving back in with Matt, who had just got injured himself. Jay figured, since I would be in Detroit for awhile, that he may as well move back in with Adam up in Toronto. That left poor Petey to have to pack up all of my Orlando stuff to drive back up here with. I was a bit sad that I would no longer be living with Jeff or Jay anymore; it had been a good year with the two. But I knew that I was growing a closer bond with Alex and Chris and would probably end up living here more than down there. Thankfully no one had ill feelings towards the move, and before I knew it, Petey's old room had soon become my own.

Nearing the beginning of February, Petey travelled back up to Detroit to help decorate my room. I was thankfully on crutches by that point, so I was able to go shopping with my three favorite boys, picking out a color for the room and a bedroom set. I settled on a bright yellow room, much like my room at home, but the wall the bed would lie against being a bright green. Daizee, and a very surprising Candice had come up as an early birthday surprise, and we spent a day goofing off and painting the room. Of course it was much easier said than done since I only had one leg.

By the time my actual birthday came around near the middle of the month, my room was finally done and I had fully moved into it. I absolutely loved it, and was grateful Petey and the others had gone into great lengths to make it amazing. Chris' ribs were healing fast, and was now back into training mode with Alex. I knew I still had a month until I could even think about going back into the ring, but I couldn't help but feel jealous. However, both men agreed that they would make their return with me, and not a moment sooner. I felt touched at that, and vowed to get through this injury as fast as possible.

On the actual day of my birthday, I was surprised with hoards of people in the living room as Chris helped me down the stairs that morning. I was completely shocked to see an array of ROH guys, a few PWG friends I had talked to constantly, as well as a few surprising faces from WWE.

"Happy Birthday sweetie." Randy Orton picked me up and in a hug and swung me around.

I laughed as I swatted his chest, forcing him to put me back on my feet.

"Glad to see you." I grinned even wider as I saw John Cena chatting with Roderick. "JOHNNY!"

"TESSY!" He ran over and just about plowed me to the ground. Thankfully Chris and Alex were behind me and were able to steady us.

"Johnny, careful. Leg." I slapped his arm. "I love you and all but go away."

"Ouch, that hurts.' He pouted.

I rolled my eyes as I went around the room and greeted everyone. I was ecstatic that everyone had travelled here just for my birthday. It just showed that I had a lot more caring friends than I originally thought. Punk thought he could tear everything I loved apart. But the exact opposite happened. I grew closer to these people. I was happy to know Punk couldn't ruin everything in my life.

"Time for some birthday girl cake!" Alex wrapped his arms around my waist, steadying me after seeing me stumble with my crutches. I felt grateful, and leaned back into him. I still wasn't used to having to use crutches to get around.

"I like cake." I grinned as Petey came walking into the living room from the kitchen, a large yellow and green cake in hand. "It's like my room in a cake!"

Alex chuckled. "Thought you'd like that."

As I leaned over to blow out the candles, I couldn't but smile. I already had everything I could possibly wish for.

* * *

"Thanks for the party Alex." I grinned over at him much later that night as I began to get ready for bed. Of course that was always a struggle with I was hopping around on one leg.

"Not a prob." He had his back turned to me so I could get dressed.

I frowned as I stumbled onto the bed as I attempted to get my PJ pants on. Ever since getting this knee new knee brace a few days ago, I had been having the hardest time trying to put pants on. Of course, throw in my natural ability to be a complete clutz, and I just couldn't get the pants on tonight. I growled out in frustration as I stomped the floor angrily.

"What's up babe?" he asked, his back still turned.

"I can't get my pants on." I grumbled.

"Go to bed without them?" he suggested.

"But I'm cold!" I whined.

Alex snickered. "Do you want some help?"

I raised an eyebrow. "Uh how?"

"I've seen you in your ring attire a thousand times, I doubt whatever you have on is all that much less than that." He reasoned.

I bit my lip. While Alex was right, I couldn't help but feel oddly nervous. I didn't want him to see me in only a t-shirt and my underwear. While it wasn't over revealing at all, considering they were cute superman underwear, I still felt hesitant. Or actually, I felt shy and self conscious. I knew I wore just a bit more when I went out to the ring, but that was a different me. I think deep down I didn't want Alex to judge what I looked outside the ring. I don't know why, but I cared what he thought about me, and my body.

"I won't do anything Tess, you know I won't."

"I know." I sighed. I really didn't want to go to bed without pants on. It was freezing and the bed covers just wouldn't cut it. "Fine."

"You sound so happy." He laughed, turning around to face me. His eyes looked me up and down, and I felt myself blush at the look he was giving me. His own face seemed to grow red as he walked over to me. "Nice panties there babe."

"Shush." I hit his arm.

He smirked down at me before grabbing my PJ pants from me and knelt down beside me as I sat on the edge of the bed. He carefully snapped the brace off, which made me face palm myself. That would have made things so much easier. I was such an idiot. He laughed at my antics before slowly drawing the pant leg over the injured knee. I winced a bit as he drew the material over, which caused him to frown. He began rubbing soft circles around my knee, trying to ease the pain. After a moment he moved onto my other leg. Running a hand over my leg briefly, he slid the pants up and over until he reached mid thigh.

"Lay back for a sec." He ordered. I rolled my eyes but did as he asked and laid back. "Now thrust baby thrust."

"You're such a perv!"

"I'm just saying." He smirked down at me. "No but seriously, you have to move your ass up if you want them to go on."

I pulled a face but indeed moved my waist up. He slid the PJ pants up, his hands pinching my ass which earned him a slap to the head. He chuckled before pulling them up the full way. As he was still leaning over me slightly, his smirk grew and grabbed my hips and pulled them down roughly. I raised an eyebrow at him as he leaned against the bed in between my legs. It was a rather compromising position if I really thought about it.

"Need any other help?" he winked at me.

"No." I blushed at how close he was.

He brought his head down until he was right above my ear. "You sure? I can do wonders with my…"

"No I'm good." I interrupted him, eyes wide.

He snickered but didn't move. "I only meant I was a good massager, sheesh, what were you thinking of babe?"

"Right…" my breathing began to grow heavier, my heart beating faster. "You can move now."

He didn't however. And surprisingly, there was a part of me that didn't want him too. I don't know why, but having him that close, in that position, it excited me. I had never really thought of Alex in any other way but as a great friend. He was able to make me feel safe. He could make me laugh even whenever I was depressed. He could calm me with only a simple hug. Everything about him was perfect. I could just melt when I looked into his warm brown eyes. They were always full of life and laughter. His smile was contagious. He could make anyone smile just by showing his pearly whites. Don't even get me started on his body. He was lean and muscled all in the right places. But he also served as a rather comfortable pillow to drift off to sleep on. I don't know why I had never looked at Alex this way before, but for some reason, now I was.

"What?" he whispered into my ear.

"Nothing." I mumbled back.

"You look cute when you blush." He moved his head up, his eyes looking into my blue orbs. "Has anyone ever told you, you have beautiful eyes?"

I couldn't speak as we just looked at one another. He began inching down ever so slightly. No one would even be able to tell he was moving at all. But I could. Time seemed to be moving in slow motion as he got closer and closer. However, of course, we just had to get interrupted.

"Yo, Alex! The movie is on!"

I sighed as Alex moved off of me, a tinge of red in his cheeks as he realized what had almost happened.

"Night," he mumbled before rushing out of the room.

I sighed as I glared up at the ceiling, confused as hell. Was I actually disappointed Alex and I didn't have the chance to do anything?

* * *

**A/N:** I had to end the 130th chapter off right eh :) hope you all enjoyed. don't know when i'll update tomorrow....i'm off to see HP out of town but im not sure what im doing before that/when im leaving, so we'll see.


	132. Chapter One Hundred and Thirty One

**Chapter 131:**

"What's going on with you and Alex?" Chris asked suddenly one day.

My head popped up, eyes wide. "Nothing."

He raised an eyebrow as he leaned against the kitchen counter. "Right, because that look on your face so says that nothing happened."

"Nothing is going on." I lied, nervously fidgeting. "Why would you think that?"

"Well, ever since your birthday, you two have been acting weird around one another. Anytime you see each other you go all red and run out of the room. Course its hilarious to see him like that, but it just screams something is going on." A smirk grew on his face. "So spill Tess."

"Like I said, nothing is going on." I bit my lip. It was slightly true, there really wasn't anything going on. I sort of wished there was, but unfortunately there wasn't. I grew red at that though. Did I really wish there was something going on between Alex and I? Though I couldn't help but feel attracted to him since the night of my birthday. Anytime I saw him shirtless I'd look away quickly or leave the room all together. I began to realize his eyes were quite mesmerizing, and would catch myself look at him for long periods of time. But like I had said to Chris, nothing was going on.

"Uh huh." He rolled his eyes. "Come on Tess, you can talk to me. What's going on?"

"Nothing…"

I wasn't sure if I was saved, or embarrassed more by Alex walking into the kitchen at that moment. He acted normal enough before he realized I was there, and his face grew red. He quickly ducked his head into the fridge, trying to hide his embarrassed face.

"Yeah, nothing is going on." Chris mumbled, his smirk growing.

"What?" Alex popped his head back up, a bottle of water in hand.

"Nothing." Chris shot him an innocent look that I didn't buy at all. "So, who was on the phone?"

"Doctor. Said I was clear to wrestle at Destination X." Alex grinned. "When do you two get checked out?"

"Appointment tomorrow for me, Tess has to wait until March 5th." Chris answered.

I pulled a face. I hated having to wait that long. Especially since Alex and Chris were already back into training mode for our return at Destination X. Or at least that's when I expected to return. However, if my leg wasn't fully recovered by then, then I had no idea what would happened. I just prayed my leg was healing quickly. But even then, I would only have a week or so before the PPV, which wasn't a lot of time to get prepared right after a leg injury.

"You alright Tess?" Alex raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, fine." I grumbled. "I'm gonna go watch TV."

Chris and Alex exchanged looks as I headed into the living room, feeling much grouchier than I had earlier.

* * *

March 5th came sooner than I expected, and I was soon sitting in an exam room, waiting for the doctor to come back in. I've already had an X-ray and multiple examinations over the past hour and I was growing restless to know what he had to say. Chris sat off to the side, reading an old magazine, while Alex leaned against the exam bed I was sitting on. He held onto my hand tightly, sending me smiles of comfort every so often. Chris kept sending knowing glances over, which were met with dark glares from me. I wasn't sure what I felt about Alex, though I knew I was starting to see him more than a friend. But I was in no way going to admit that knowledge to Chris, who had been pestering me about Alex and me for ages now. I was just happy he was fully healed now so I could hit him whenever he was a pain in the rear end.

"Ms. McMahon." The doctor walked back in.

I tightened my hold on Alex's hand, nervous about the results.

"I'm sorry to say I don't think I'll be able to clear you to wrestle for another month."

My mouth gaped open. "What? No, I have to wrestle!"

The doctor shook his head. "I'm sorry, your knee isn't fully healed, and you would just do more damage if you wrestled."

"But…"

"Another month Ms. McMahon and you'll be full healed. I've already scheduled you another appointment in a months time." He stated, handing over a piece of paper before excusing himself.

"Damnit!" I hopped off the table, accidentally putting wait on my leg and winced. "Ow."

"And that's why you're not cleared." Chris raised an eyebrow. "You said you weren't in pain anymore."

"Yeah well I lied Chris." I shot at him.

"Hey, don't get all angry with me." he held his hands up in defense as he stood. "One month won't kill you."

"Yes it will." I grumbled before turning and attempting to walk out of the room. However, my leg began to hurt again. I bit my lip as I limped the rest of the way out and to the exit of the building.

"Do you need help?" Alex asked, rushing over to my side as we made our way to his car.

"No." I brushed him away. "I'm fine. Let's just go."

"It sucks, but it's for the best Tess." Alex pointed out, laying a hand on my shoulder.

I pushed it off however as I turned towards the car door and opened it. "Whatever."

***************************

The next few dayas went by slowly. Alex had refused to talk with me anymore with my current attitude. But I couldn't help but feel moody all the time. I had been hoping I would be able to wrestle at Destination X, to be able to get revenge for what Punk did to me. But those hopes were shattered. All I wanted to do was get revenge, was that so much to ask? Apparently so. So I took my anger of my leg out at Alex and Chris. I knew they didn't deserve it; they had been nothing but great to me over the past few months. But I couldn't help it. I needed to lash out, and they were there.

Both men had decided against wrestling the March PPV and instead were waiting on Lockdown with me. Not even that cheered me up, and instead got me angrier. As the middle of the month neared, Chris looked about ready to give up trying to make me feel better, just as Alex had did earlier.

"Alright, that's it!" Chris growled angrily. "I can't take this anymore. Tess, stop it!"

I was shocked to hear his sudden outburst and raise of voice. I had never seen him angry before. Annoyed and frustrated yes, but never angry. I gulped as he glared down at me, Alex not giving us a second glance from the couch.

"I tried so hard to not get pissed off with your attitude, but I can't do it anymore." He shook his head, standing up and running a hand through his hair, trying to calm himself down. "You either need to stop it, or just stay in your room, because neither of us deserve this." He pointed between him and Alex, his eyes blazing. "I get your upset Tess, but it's not the end of the world!"

I frowned. I knew he was right. I had been acting down right horrible all month. That attitude should have been reserved for Punk, not these two. They didn't deserve that. They had been two amazing men since I had truly become friends with them. And now I was just ruining everything with my attitude. I felt horrible.

"I'm sorry." I mumbled softly.

Alex looked up at that. It was the only time I had apologized since beginning to act like this.

"Don't think we heard you." He smirked.

"I'm sorry." I sighed.

"What was that?"

"I will hit you Alex." I shot him a glare.

His smirk just widened. Chris however, didn't seem took keen on my apology.

"A simple sorry doesn't really cut it." He crossed his arms stubbornly.

I thought for a moment to myself before getting up off the chair I was sitting in and walked over to him. He looked down at me confused before I wrapped my arms around him, ignoring his protest.

"I'm sorry." I repeated. "I'm a bitch; A horrible person who doesn't deserve you two."

His hard look fell at that point. "You deserve us, you just have to…stop being bitchy. We didn't do this to you. That was Punk."

"I know." I nodded, still hugging the man tightly. I was happy when he slowly slid his own arms around me. "I'm sorry I lashed out at you two. I didn't mean to. You guys were just there, it was easier."

"We get it." Alex nodded.

"We forgive you." Chris kissed the top of my head.

I pulled back and smiled up at him. "Thanks."

* * *

**A/N: **w00t, another chapter :) so i had the oddest dream last night......about school......it was weird.....and then there was a lizard thing that just kept jumping at me....it freaked me out lol.


	133. Chapter One Hundred and Thirty Two

**Chapter 132:**

"Are you sure being here in the best idea?" Chris scratched the back of his neck nervously.

I nodded as we sat in their locker room backstage at Destination X. Just because I wasn't able to wrestle, didn't mean I couldn't be here. I had a plan, and in order to make that happen, I needed to be here tonight.

"Are you going to tell us what you're planning on doing at all?" Alex raised an eyebrow from beside me. "Because we said we'd help you, but you're not supposed to wrestle…"

"I know, don't worry. There won't be able physical contact on my part. Maybe on yours though." I shot both of them smirks. "Punk and Jarrett have a match tonight for the title. After the match, and hopefully Jarrett will win, but afterwards, I need you two to go down and attack Punk."

"Us?"

"Well I figured you'd like some revenge for putting you two out." I shrugged.

Alex and Chris looked at one another before both had on identical smirks.

"We're totally down with that." Chris nodded, his eyes brightening.

"Good. I already talked with Team Canada; they're going to make sure no one comes down. Terry, Ray, and Devon said they'd keep an eye out as well. So there shouldn't be anything going wrong." I explained. "And then I'll go out there."

"What exactly are you going to do if you're not going to wrestle?" Chris questioned.

"You'll see." I could only smirk.

The plan was coming together nicely. I was just thankful everyone was coming together to help me with such little information. But everyone seemed more than happy to help take down Punk for what they've done to us all.

"What if Jarrett doesn't win?"

"We'll just have to make sure he does."

"You're a bundle of mysteries sweetie." Alex snickered. "But I like it. Just promise to be safe. Your leg is still bothering you."

"Don't worry Lex, I'll be just fine. Just you wait."

* * *

"You guys will make sure no one comes down right?" I looked around at everyone in the locker room, making sure everyone was still up to the task.

"Of course Tess." Terry nodded. "We just wish you'd tell us what was going on."

"You'll find out soon enough, don't worry." I assured him. "It's nothing that will put me in harm's way…tonight that is."

"Alright." He seemed unsure. "We should head to our spots then; the match should be done soon."

I nodded as Alex, Chris, and I led the way out. Team Canada, along with Jay and Adam, headed towards the Heel ramp, while the rest of us made our way to the face. As we stopped, I glanced up at the monitor and grinned as Jarrett managed to get the pin on Punk, who was lying in the middle of the ring, bloody. I waited until Jarrett grabbed onto his title tightly and left the ring before motioning to Alex and Chris to do their thing. They shot me thumbs up before racing up through the tunnel. We all turned to the monitor to watch what was about to happen.

Jarrett didn't even send Alex and Chris a second glance, knowing I had been planning something. The two slipped into the ring, pulled the referee out, and began to work on Punk. They used their fast paced double team moves to do even more damage to the already beaten man. I smirked as Alex did the Shellshock before Chris gave him the Cradle Shock. Knowing this was my time, I shot everyone a smile before heading up the tunnel. As I made it to the top of the stage, the fans cheered as they noticed me. I held a smirk on my face as I slowly headed down the ramp, still limping a touch. I could see the confused, but happy faces on Mike Tenay and Don West as I hopped up onto the ring apron and slid into the ring. I shot a glance around at the fans before holding my gaze onto Punk, who was attempting to get up. However, Alex and Chris grabbed onto him, having him kneel down in front of me. I held the mic I had in my hands tightly as I smirked down at the bloody man. Pay back was a bitch sometimes.

"Surprised to see me Punk?" I laughed as Punk glared up at me, anger flashing through his eyes as he fought against Alex and Chris. "You thought you could get rid of me by breaking my leg didn't you? I admit, you kicked me when I was down. I was out for months. As were these two men. You thought you could hurt my best friends and get away with it? I was biding my time until I had a chance to take you down."

I paused while the fans cheered even louder.

"I've waited so long to tear you apart. To make you understand what you made me go through. And now I finally have that chance."

Alex and Chris' heads popped up at that. Neither of them knew just what exactly I was planning on saying. I felt a bit guilty of what I was going to propose, knowing no one would exactly be pleased by my decision. But I had to do this. I had to end this finally. I couldn't let Punk to continue running supreme, thinking he can do whatever he liked to the people I cared about. Not anymore. I was going to end his reign of terror for once and for all.

"Next month is Lockdown, and I can't possibly see a better Main Event than being able to get into the ring with you."

The Detroit men's eyes practically popped out of their head at that. The fans seemed to enjoy the news however. My smirk grew as I glared down at Punk, who looked angrier than ever.

"You want me out of TNA, you want to destroy everything about me, well here's your chance Punk. You, Me, in this ring at lockdown. Just us. None of your goons, none of my friends. Just you and me in that cage."

"Tess…" Alex tried to get my attention, shaking his head.

I ignored him however as I continued. "To make it even more interesting, the loser of the match, and believe me when I say it's going to be you, but the loser…they're going to have to take their little faction and leave TNA."

Just one look at Punk's face and I snickered. He didn't expect this out of me at all.

"That's right Punky; I'm going to make you feel everything that you've done to me. I'm going to tear you apart. And when I'm finished, your little friends are going to have to scrap you off the cage just to get you out of my company. I'm going to finish your career Punk. I'm going to make you pay for everything you've done to me."

I threw down the microphone before motioning to Alex and Chris I was done. The two sent Punk identical kicks to the head before dropping him onto the mat. They held the ropes open as I slipped out of the ring. The two seemed shocked and worried about the match I had just created, but both knew they couldn't stop me.

I was going to get my revenge. One way or another, this was going to end at Lockdown.

* * *

**A/N:** haha Punk, he's going to get pwned! alright, depending on whats going on in the next few hours, i'll probably wont be able to update until tonight/late tonight...heading out to see HP6 shortly :D w00t, i hear its not that great, but i don't care....any chance to see Tom Felton (Draco) and i'm good. lol


	134. Chapter One Hundred and Thirty Three

**Chapter 133:**

I ignored the looks and words of concern that were being thrown at me as I made it backstage. I knew they wouldn't be pleased with this. But I had to do it. I have to end this, and even though none of them wanted to admit it, I had to be the one to take Punk down. This all started with me, and I was going to end it. I wasn't planning on losing. I had to take him out and make sure he and his little goons left TNA for good. TNA needed a fresh start from all this drama, and I would go to any length to make sure it happened.

I hurried through the hallways, Alex and Chris at my side. A few others joined us as we travelled quickly to the parking lot. They all knew that Punk's cronies would be trying to find me and take me out. But I wouldn't let that happen. We had thankfully made it to Alex's car without any trouble, and before I knew it, we were speeding away from the studio. Once we were a safe distance, I snuck a glance at Alex and Chris, who had both been silent since we left the ring.

"You shouldn't do this Tess." Alex stated before I had a chance to say anything.

"You're going to get hurt." Chris agreed.

"I have to do this. I need this all to end. What's better than getting him locked into a cage? He's not as strong when it's just him. Without the others, I can match up to him."

"But…"

"I won against Jarrett and AMW on my first PPV in TNA. Sure there was a lot of interference, but I still won. If I can overcome those odds, I can do this." I told them determinedly. "Yes I may get hurt, but it's a small price to pay to get them out of TNA. And I'm going to make sure that happens."

Chris shot a glance back at me. "We just don't want this to backfire on you."

"I know, and I appreciate you guys caring. Really I do. But you all knew this was going to happen one way or another."

"I guess. How's your leg?" Alex sighed, changing the subject.

I appreciated the effort and shrugged. "It's pretty good."

"Will you be able to wrestle alright in a month?"

"Well I talked to the doctor before we came down here, and he said I can start working out as long as I take it easy with my leg. I'll have 2 weeks between my appointment and the match, so if I get cleared…which I will…I'll have two weeks to train fully. And you two will help me, won't you?"

"of course." Chris nodded. "We'll be training anyways."

"Well see, everything will be alright." I smiled. "Now let's just go home."

* * *

The next few weeks were brutal. I got back into the gym, doing upper body training while my leg continued to heal. Alex and Chris helped in anyway they could to make sure I was ready for the match at lockdown. I was even surprised with a special trainer for the next few weeks.

"JERKY!" My eyes grew wide as I saw Chris Jericho waiting in the gym parking lot for us nearing the beginning of April.

"Hey sweetie." He hugged me tightly. "How are you doing?"

"I'm fine. What in the world are you doing here?"

"Got a few calls." He nodded at the two men behind me. "Figured since I'm off for a bit I'd come help you out. I hear you have one hell of a match in a few weeks."

I grinned. "Really?"

"Of course." He wrapped an arm around me. "We're going to make sure you kick Punk's ass."

And those three definitely did make sure I was able to do just that. After my appointment with my doctor, I was declared able to wrestle, and went straight into training inside the ring. Scott D'Amore had been more than happy to offer his school, Can Am, to allow me to train, which I appreciated. Every morning the four of us would head over to Windsor and wouldn't return back to late at night. I was prepared to do whatever was possible to make sure I beat Punk. I didn't care if I had to train every moment of the day, which I certainly did, I was going to make this happen. No matter what.

The days before the PPV seemed to be going much faster than I expected. It was the night before we would be heading back to Orlando, and I was sitting in the living room with Alex and Chris. Jericho had left just hours before, and we were taking a rest before heading off to bed.

"Do you guys think I'm ready for this?" I asked them honestly. While I was determined to beat Punk, I couldn't help but feel nervous. I had just come off injury, what if I wasn't up to my usual self inside the ring? And this was a cage match, meaning it would be far more brutal than a normal match.

"You are." Alex wrapped his arms around me as we sat on the couch together.

I curled up into his side, ignoring the looks Chris was giving us.

"We spent the past month training like mad; you'll be able to do this." Chris agreed with Alex. "You're mentally and physically prepared. You know you can do this, which is all that matters."

"Yeah." I nodded, but knew there was still a part of me apprehensive. "I have something to talk to you two about by the way."

"Shoot."

I bit my lip. The past few weeks had opened up my eyes a bit. I realized a lot of things I hadn't before. And one of those things was probably going to change not only my life, but the life of all my friends.

"What's up sweetie?" Chris raised an eyebrow.

"I…I've decided that no matter what happens…I think…" I trailed off.

This decision was the hardest thing I've ever had to do. I wasn't exactly sure it was the right one, but I knew in order to feel happy, I would have to do this. My friends would be anything but happy, but I had to do this for myself, I had to do this for my own well being.

"Tess?" Alex squeezed my shoulders.

"Er…you're probably not going to like it.

"What's going on? Something wrong babe?" Alex asked, a worried look on his face.

"No, nothing like that. It's just…" How was I supposed to tell them my decision? Would they understand at all?

"You can tell us." Chris assured me, smiling in encouragement. "No matter what it is, we're here for you. Machine Guns till the end remember."

I felt touched at his words and nodded. It was now or never right?

"I've decided it's going to be my last match in TNA."

* * *

**A/N:** I literally raced to finish this....just about to head out...i'll update again when i come back :)


	135. Chapter One Hundred and Thirty Four

**Chapter 134:**

"Hey, can I come in?"

Alex glanced up from his phone as he lounged on his bed and shrugged, looking back down at whatever he was doing. I frowned as I wandered over to his bed and sat down beside him. Ever since I had told Alex and Chris about my decision they had been a bit distant. Sure it was only an hour ago, but Chris made some excuse about going to bed early, and Alex just moodily left for his bedroom right afterwards.

"Your mad at me aren't you?" I voiced, sneaking a glance at him.

He just shrugged again, not making a peep. I sighed. I didn't mean for this decision to make anyone upset. But when I really thought about it, I wasn't happy in TNA. I had never felt the excitement like I did when I wrestled for PWG or ROH. I got this amazing adrenaline rush that put a smile on my face, but I never felt that in TNA. Sure my stint there was immediately thrown into a war against Planet Jarrett, and now Punk, but the fact still remained. I had done pretty much everything I possibly could in TNA. I had fought the same women over and over again. I had won the Knockouts title twice. The only reason to stay there was for my friends. But how would that make me happy?

"Alex, I'm sorry." I laid a hand on his arm, but was surprised when he flinched at my touch. "Please don't hate me. I didn't just make up this decision over night. I've really thought about it and I think it would make me happier."

"So what, you're just going to go to the WWE then and forget about us all?" he grumbled.

"No! WWE is for my family, not me. I never want to wrestle there. I'm not doing this to run away from you and everyone else. I'm not happy, I've never been happy in TNA really. I went there to make a name for myself, my own name and not just my family's, and I achieved that. What else is there for me to do?" I tried to reason with him.

"You could just be with us."

"Alex, it's not like I'm saying I'm moving out! I'm gonna be living here. I just want to wrestle on the Indy's for awhile. Maybe one day I'll go back to TNA, who knows. I just think it'd be best if I leave for awhile. TNA, not your lives." I insisted.

"Whatever." He shrugged. "You can leave now."

My face fell. "Alex, please don't be mad at me."

"Go away."

I could feel tears spring to my eyes as I hurriedly left his room. Why was he acting like this? I thought he would be happy for me, happy that I wanted to wrestle for ROH and PWG full time. But he just hated me instead.

* * *

**POV OFF**

* * *

"Dude, what did you say to her?" Chris came barging into Alex's room later that night, an angry look on his face.

"Huh?" Alex looked up briefly from his phone.

"She's in her room sobbing. What'd you say to her?" he crossed his arms.

"Nothing. Maybe she's crying because of you, you stormed off before I did."

"I was shocked." Chris shrugged. "She was the one to go see you though. You must have said something."

"Well I didn't." Alex snapped. "I don't really care. She clearly doesn't give a crap about us. She's just going to leave us."

"I heard you guys talking; you didn't hear a word she said did you?"

"Chris, I don't really care."

Chris shook his head. "She's not happy in TNA Alex! What do you want her to do, stay there and be miserable?"

"I never said that."

"No but that's practically what your telling her by acting like this. Yeah, I stormed off and I'm going to apologize, but dude, if she wants to wrestle the Indy's, who cares. She's not going to WWE, you know she's not like her family and doesn't find enjoyment in that. You out of both of us love ROH and PWG, shouldn't you be happy?"

Alex shrugged.

"Dude, I don't want to lose her because you're upset you won't see her three days out of the month. Who cares? We're still living together; we're still going to be going to shows together. Just not TNA. Big deal! Grow up. Do you really want to wreck your chances with her because of this?"

Alex looked up in shock. "What?"

"You heard me." Chris smirked. "I know you like her. I can tell. You haven't acted this way around anyone since Kristin, and even then you didn't act this way. She likes you too, so don't ruin your chances by acting like a douche."

"I don't…"

"Yeah yeah, you don't like her." Chris rolled his eyes. "Right."

"I don't!" Alex defended.

Chris just shook his head before turning and heading out of the room. "Just talk to her!"

Alex frowned as his friend left his room. He wasn't right, was he? Did she like him back?

* * *

**POV ON**

* * *

It was the middle of the night when I heard a knock on my door. I had just cried myself to sleep a few hours earlier and was exhausted. I never knew crying could exhaust you so much. I groaned as the knocking persisted.

"Go away!" I yelled tiredly.

Apparently whoever it was thought 'go away' really mean 'come in' as the door opened, revealing Alex. I sighed, rolling over so my back was to him. I didn't really want to endear him being all snippy with me. He was upset, I get it. He didn't need to remind me.

"Tess?" He slowly walked into the room, closing the door behind him. "Are you awake?"

"No I'm asleep dumb ass." I muttered.

I heard him snicker as he moved to the other side of my bed and swiftly slid under and beside me. I shifted away from him, attempting to roll over onto my other side. However, he grabbed me by the waist and kept me in my spot. I let out a growl and slapped his side.

"I came here to apologize and you hit me." he rolled his eyes. "Love you too Tess."

"Go away." I grumbled, trying to turn over again. "I get it, you hate me."

"I don't hate you." He sighed. "I was just upset…and shocked. I didn't expect you'd ever leave TNA. I'm just too used to having you around. I don't want you out of my life."

"I'm not going to be out of your like Alex!" I propped myself up on my elbow, staring down at him. "I just won't be in TNA."

"I know. I get that. Chris kind of knocked sense back into me. I just don't want to lose you…and I was scared I was…"

"So you try and push me away?" I raised an eyebrow. "Logic is where?"

"When have I ever been logical?" he chuckled. "I was scared and I act like a douche when I'm scared. I'm sorry."

I nodded as I laid back down, laying my head on his chest. "I'm sorry if I upset or hurt you guys. That's not what I wanted to do. I just…I want to be happy Alex, and PWG and ROH makes me happy. You understand. You've been there."

"I get that." He ran a hand through my hair, sending shivers up my spine. "You mean a lot to me Tess. I just never want to lose you in my life."

"You mean a lot to me too." I curled up into his side. "I wouldn't lose you for the world."

* * *

**A/N: **So Harry Potter 6 was amazing! i totally recommend going to see it, it was pretty much the book in a movie...it was awesome :)

as mentioned by a reviewer....yes...the end is nearing.....rather fast sadly. There may be 3 chapters maybe left...possibly 5 if i can drag anything out. But unfortuantely, this crazy crazy story is coming to an end shortly. Its sad eh....its been years, and now its finally coming to a close. now this really is the ending of an era....but....good news! I'm going to write a sequel! i already have plans in the work, so it should be coming out shortly after this ends. so you won't have to be without the BWAT drama for too long :)


	136. Chapter One Hundred and Thirty Five

**Chapter 135:**

I bit my lip nervously as I sat in the locker room with all my friends. Alex and Chris sat on either side of me, sending me looks of encouragement. It was Lockdown finally, and I had to do this. I had to tell everyone that this would be it. But looking around at all the worried and concerned looks on everyone's faces, I was apprehensive. They were all worried about their own match, as well as my well being. Maybe this wasn't exactly a good time. But when would be? I had already made up my mind, and talked to management about my last ever appearance being at tomorrows tapings for a farewell speech, so they would find out then anyways.

"Just do it." Alex whispered in my ear.

I sighed but nodded. It was now or never.

"Guys?" I stood, grabbing their attention. "Can I talk to you all?"

They all looked over at me in interest. I began to grow nervous again at all of their stares. How could I crush them all like this? I felt horrible.

"What's up Tess?"Jay questioned.

I shot Alex and Chris a glance, growing a bit more confident as they smiled warmly. I inhaled sharply before turning back to everyone. I could do this.

"I've been doing a lot of thinking lately." I began. "About life and what makes me happy…and about TNA."

"Don't think too hard now T, you might hurt yourself." Adam joked.

"She's trying to be serious." Terry slapped him over the head.

"Sorry."

I couldn't but chuckle. Leave it to Adam to calm me down without even knowing it.

"Go on." Terry smiled.

"Well….you all know the stipulations tonight for my match with Punk. If I win, he leaves, and nice versa." My hands began fiddling with one another nervously.

"You're going to win. We've got faith in you." Ray assured me.

"Thanks….its just….I've decided that no matter what happens…." I breathed in heavily. "This will be my last match in TNA."

The room grew silent as everyone stared up at me in shock. Their mouth's gaped open, not able to believe what I had just said.

"I'm not happy here. It's nothing to do with you guys at all. I love you guys. But I don't feel the same excitement in TNA that I do elsewhere. I never have."

"But…so where would you go?" Devon questioned.

"Not to the WWE if that's what any of you think. I never want to wrestle there, no offence or anything." I shot a few of them glances. "I think I'd like to concentrate on the independents though. The few shows I've done, it's brought my love of wrestling back. Being here, I think I lost it a bit with this constant war going on. But they brought it back."

"So you're just going to leave then?" Jay frowned. He looked like he was taking it harder than the others. "Forget all about us and go be with your 'new' friends."

"It's not like that Jay." I sighed. "I'd still visit you guys; probably come down with Alex and Chris a lot of the time. But I don't feel like there's anything left in TNA for me."

"There are us." Jeff pointed out, a hurt expression crossing his face.

"I love you guys. You're my extended family, and I never want to lose any of you. But I need to do this for me. I haven't been truly happy in a very long time."

"What about us?" Adam looked up. "Half of us left the WWE just for you, to help you. Now that you don't need help, you just abandon us?"

I was a bit taken back by that comment. I didn't think they would get this upset.

"Adam, I'm not…"

"We put everything on hold for you Tess." Adam glared. "And this is the thanks we get?"

"Adam, that was a bit uncalled for." Terry shot him a look.

"What? It's true. You can't deny that Terry." Adam stated.

My face fell as Terry sighed and just sat back. Was this decision really this upsetting? Why couldn't they just understand I wasn't happy? After everything I've gone through in the past year, all I wanted was the chance to be happy again. I couldn't do that in TNA. Not right now. Maybe in the future. But for now, I needed to go search out what would make me happy, and unfortunately that wasn't here in Orlando.

"I'm not doing this to hurt any of you." I insisted, seeing everyone beginning to grow hurt, a few of them looking like they agreed with Adam. "You have to all know that. I would never try and hurt you guys. I just want to be happy."

"And we clearly can't provide that," Jay crossed his arms angrily.

"It's not you guys! Its being here in TNA. It's nothing against you."

"It is about us if we can't make you happy." Ray pointed out.

I sighed. Why couldn't anyone except this?

"Wouldn't it be better if she was happy somewhere else and not miserable here?" Alex defended, standing up beside me, his hand slipping in mine for comfort.

"What do you even know about any of this? You just became friends with her because no one else gave a damn about you." Jay glared.

Hurt flashed across Alex's face. I squeezed his hand, annoyed that Jay had to pick on Alex like that.

"Look, I'm sorry if this hurts any of you, but I have to do it. For myself. I'm sorry, I really am, but no matter what its happening. Tonight is my last match. After tomorrow, that's it. I'm leaving TNA." I motioned for Chris to get up. "I get you guys are shocked, and I'm sorry about this all. But it's my decision, and if you can't handle that, than I don't care."

I grabbed onto Chris arm and began dragging the two through the room and to the door.

"So that's it, your walking out on us?" Adam stood and stared over at me angrily. "Ruining years of friendship?"

"No, that's what you're doing Adam. I'm trying to be happy; you're supposed to care about that." Was all I said before opening the door and storming out.

* * *

"God, why couldn't they just understand!" my bottom lip quivered.

"I don't know sweetie." Alex rubbed my back.

Alex had immediately brought me to the X Division Locker Room before shooing everyone out, including Chris, to try and calm me down. I was a complete wreck. I hadn't even left taken five steps away from the room before I broke down and began crying. Why couldn't they just all understand where I was coming from? Didn't anyone care if I was happy or not? I thought that was what friends were supposed to care about. But they just all assumed I was being selfish and leaving them all behind. But that wasn't it at all! I just wanted to be happy Damnit!

"Shh, it'll be alright." He wrapped his arms tightly around me. "They just need to let it sink in. Like for me and Chris."

"But…you didn't get as mad as they did." I pointed out, sniffing.

"Well they've known you longer." Alex shrugged. "It'll work out though. They're your friends; they won't just stop caring because of this."

"What if they do though?" I could feel the tears running down my cheeks and I didn't even attempt to wipe them away.

"Well then Chris and I will be here. So will Petey. We'll always be here for you. Always."

"Promise?"

Alex cupped my cheeks, looking me straight in his eyes. His brown eyes were warm with comfort. I knew I could always trust this man, and to count of him being there. I had never had a reason to doubt that. He had been there when others weren't. I wouldn't trade our special bond for the world. I couldn't deny I had feelings for him, but I wouldn't let that come in the way of our friendship. I had no idea what would happen with the others, but I knew I could count on him and Chris, as well as Petey.

"Tess, I will always be here for you. Day or night, I'm here. I'll be your shoulder to cry on, the guy who kicks everyone's ass for just looking at you the wrong way. I'll be anything you need me to be. Like it or not, your stuck with me."

He lifted a hand and wiped away my tears, kissing my forehead in the process. He lent his head down so out foreheads touched so slightly. His brown eyes bore down into my blue orbs. I gulped as we just stared at one another. My heart began to beat faster at realizing how close we were. Alex's arm slid around my waist, pulling me slowly closer. His eyes peered down, staring at my lips.

Before I realized it, Alex had captured my lips with his own, shocking both of us with his actions.

* * *

**A/N:** whoa! they kissed! what will happen now?


	137. Chapter One Hundred and Thirty Six

**Chapter 136:**

I pulled away almost as quickly as it happened. I hopped off the bench, my eyes wide as my fingers lightly touched my lips. Alex sighed, regret falling over his face.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that." He stood. "I'm really sorry Tess."

All I wanted was to kiss him again. It had felt so right. I couldn't ignore the fireworks that went off when his lips touched mine. I had never felt that way before. I never experienced any sort of feeling like that when I was with Daniels. But when Alex had kissed me, it took my breath away. I so wanted to return it, to show him that I wanted it just as much as he did. But I couldn't. Not right now at least. I needed to concentrate about my match, about my friends. I couldn't do this right now. I needed my head clear, and I knew if I stayed here, my head would be anything but clear.

"I…I have to go." I went to rush past him.

"Tess," he grabbed onto my arm to stop me. "I'm sorry. Please don't be upset."

"I'm not." My hand seemed to have a mind of it's own as it cupped his cheek. "I just…I need to concentrate."

He sighed but nodded.

"Good luck with your match." I began inching towards the door.

"Don't get yourself killed." He pleaded.

"I'll try." I nodded before throwing the door open and hurrying out of the room.

I didn't even care that I was alone as I rushed through the halls. I just needed to get far away from Alex. It wasn't that I didn't like him. God, I wished I could have just stayed there all night. But I couldn't. I had to concentrate. I had to remember the task at hand. I wouldn't be able to beat Punk if my head was up in the clouds.

* * *

I let out a sigh as I sat alone in the women's locker room. My match was in only minutes. I couldn't wrap my mind around what exactly would be happening out there. I was about to get into a locked cage with the man who tried to ruin my life. He terrorized me for months. He kidnapped me and tried to turn my world upside down. He hurt my best friends, broke my leg, and tried to break my spirit. He had done everything he could to run me out of TNA.

But it would all end tonight. I was here, in this building, ready to take him down. He may have broken my bones, but he never broke my spirit. I was still here. I hadn't run away. I hadn't been a coward. I had come back fighting every time. Tonight would be no exception. I was going to do this, and I was going to win.

"Knock knock."

I glanced up and was shocked to see Jarrett standing in the doorway.

"Can I come in?"

I nodded. He had been one of the few in the locker room that didn't seem to take my decision offensively.

"Nervous?" He asked, sitting down beside me on the bench.

"Not really." I shook my head. "I think I just want this so much, that I can't possibly feel nervous right now. If I do, I'll doubt myself."

"That's good." He paused for a moment. "So you're really leaving after tonight?"

I sighed. "Yep. Get a few minutes at the tapings tomorrow to announce it, but other than that, this is it."

"You know, I spent months trying to get you out of TNA. I couldn't wait for the day you left. And now oddly enough, I'm sad to see you go." He peered over at me. "How messed up is that?"

"Aw, I feel touched." I let out a small laugh. "Well, you're not exactly the jackass you were a year ago."

"Well that's good to know." He chuckled before growing serious. "Look, what happened between us since you've come here, I'm sorry. Being on your end has really made me realize what I did, and I'm sorry. It's my fault Punk is here."

"I don't blame you Jarrett." I laid a hand on his arm. "Sure you were a really big jackass, but that was nothing compared to Punk. You didn't know he was going to turn out the way he did. I don't blame you at all."

"I feel responsible." He shrugged, frowning.

"Yeah well I feel responsible for all my friends having to go through hell for the past year and a half, so we're in the same boat."

"None of them blame you." Jarrett shot me a look. "They never saw you as a burden, helping you."

"Well they aren't exactly happy with me right now." I frowned.

"They're just shocked. I'm sure they'll come around." He assured.

"Maybe." I glanced over at the clock. "My match is up in the next minute."

"Try and not get yourself killed." He stood, holding out a hand.

I took it and stood. "I'll try my hardest."

"No matter what happens, everyone back here is proud of you."

"Including you?" I smirked.

"Things changed the moment I was locked in that room with you. We have some strange weird bond because of that experience. So yeah, considering how far you've come from that a year ago, I'm proud of you."

I felt touched, and surprising both of us, I hugged him.

"Thank you." I whispered in his ear before turning and heading out of the room.

This was it. This match was going to seal, not only mine, but every single TNA wrestler's fate. I had a lot riding on this. I had my health, and I had the well being of everyone back here. But I was determined this was going to happen. I was going to go out there, and I was going to show Punk that he hadn't broken me. I wanted to show him that no matter what happens, I can pick myself up and still be able to fight.

* * *

**A/N:** So there may only be 2 chapters left...possibly a third....but who knows. so sad that its coming to an end. but fear not, i have excellent ideas for the sequel :)


	138. Chapter One Hundred and Thirty Seven

**Chapter 137: Battlefield**

_I never meant to start a war  
You know I never wanna hurt you  
don't even know what we're fighting for_

"Making her way to the ring, she's the TNA Knockout Champion, Tess McMahon!"

My eyes closed tightly as I stood at the top of the ramp. I inhaled sharply before slowly walking down towards the ring. I looked straight ahead, into the caged ring, and at Punk. He was smirking widely, as if he thought he already had this thing won. It was anything but won however. He had no idea what I was capable. I didn't even know what I was capable of. But we were both going to find out.

The ref made sure Punk stayed back as I hopped up onto the apron and slid into the ring. I watched as a ref locked the cage from the outside. There was no way out now. The only way that the bout could be won was by submission or pin fall. But I was more than happy to comply with those rules.

"You shouldn't have done this to yourself McMahon." Punk taunted once the bell had rung.

We walked around one another in a circle. I glared daggers at him. I couldn't wait to make this man feel the same pain I had for a year now.

"Your going to lose, and then you'll never get the chance to help your precious little friends." He sneered. "I'll go after every single one of them. And then maybe your family, for good measure."

We were close enough that I could hit him. And I did. One good right hand into his face. He stumbled back, surprised at the sudden punch. I stood there in front of him, my fists clenched. I wasn't going to let him threaten anyone else anymore. This had gotten personal enough. Now it was going to end.

Enraged, Punk lunged at me. I used my fast pace to move to the side. I grabbed his arm and threw him into the ropes. As he bounced off them, I sent him a double kick. He fell onto the mats in shock. I wasn't done though. I hopped off the closest ring ropes and into a summersault flip onto his body. The crowd cheered loudly, the first few moments of the match not disappointing them.

However, my upper hand ended almost as quickly as it started when he surprised me with a back hand. I stumbled, allowing him to grab onto me and crash my back across his knee. I groaned as I grabbed my back in pain. He grabbed onto my hair quickly and threw me into the cage. I winced as my body made impact with the steel. He decided for that moment to try and draw the first blood. He grated my forehead against the cage, making me scream out in agony. He pulled me back a moment later and into a DDT.

Punk stood to taunt the crowd, giving me a brief moment to catch my breath. I raised a hand to my forehead, and groaned as I saw blood on my hand. But I knew this was part of the battle. I had bled thanks to this man many times before. But this would be the last. This would be the final time he would try and make me vulnerable.

As his back was still turned to me, I slowly drew myself up with the ropes help. Fishing into the top of my belted jeans, I grabbed one of the brass knucks I had hid in my attire. I slipped it on and waiting for Punk to turn around. There was no possible way this match was going to end up being clean. As Punk turned, I smirked as the knucks made contact with the side of his head. His body fell to the mat, limp. I wasn't going to even attempt ending this yet though. I wanted my revenge, and a simple blow to the head wasn't even close. I ignored the ref and grabbed onto Punk. I dragged him over to the cage and, like he just done to me, I grated his head roughly against the steel. My smirk grew as I heard him scream out from the pain. I pushed him to the mat, watching as he grabbed his bleeding head. I didn't hesitate for a moment as I climbed the closest turnbuckle and threw myself off into a frog splash. But again, I didn't attempt a pin. The fans seemed to understand as they continued to cheer loudly in my favor. They wanted to see Punk in pain just as much as I wanted to.

"What's the matter Punk." I mocked. "Getting beat by a girl?"

I instantly regretted that comment though as he grabbed my leg and pulled me down. Before I knew it, he was applying the Anaconda Vice on me. I tried my hardest not to voice the pain I was feeling from being stretched. I fought with everything I could to try and get a foot to the ropes. I couldn't let this match end from this. I wouldn't tap. I couldn't give him that satisfaction.

Finally I was able to just touch the rope ever so slightly. That was enough for the ref though as he was able to get Punk to let go of the hold. I sighed as I tried to gain my composure.

I felt like I wasn't even in the match as it progressed. I wasn't thinking a single thought. I just had to win. We went back and forth, battling one another with everything possible. At one point we were both laying at opposite ends of the ring, blood pouring down our faces. I could feel black spots starting to blur my vision. But I blinked them away. I wasn't going to stop fighting. But every inch of my body was in pain. I was exhausted and bleeding in multiple places. While I willed myself to get up, I couldn't. My body wanted to give up, but I couldn't let it. I had to find the strength somehow.

"Come on Tess! You can do it!"

My eyes popped opened at the voice. I moaned as I moved my head to the side and saw Alex there, holding onto the cage tightly. His face was full of concern, but his eyes were encouraging. Just by looking into those warm orbs, I could feel a sudden surge of energy. He knew I could do this. He believed in me. That was all I needed.

I rolled onto my side, facing Alex, and used the ropes to pull myself up onto my knees.

"I believe in you Tess, you can do this. You can beat him. You can win this."

A determined look crossed my face as I nodded. He was right. I could do this. I could win this. I just had to keep fighting. As I stood and went to turn back to Punk however, I was plowed down by a powerful clothes line. He smirked at Alex before pulling out a fork from his boots. He pulled me up against a knee before stabbing at my forehead with the object. I cried out as the fork dug into my previous gashes. I could feel the tears in my eyes as the pain grew. I could barely see now from the amount of blood streaming down my face.

He pulled back after what felt like an eternity, showing off the bloody fork to Alex. Alex slammed a fist against the cage, enraged at Punk's actions. I crawled to the side, trying to control the pain I felt. I had to figure out a plan. I had to figure out a way to stop him.

That's when I realized he was limping. I never recognized earlier in the match after a few submission attempts that I had injured his leg. But I had indeed. All I had to do was work on that leg. It would ware him down and he would hardly he able to walk.

I stood up, and as Punk turned back towards me, I sent a stiff kick to his left leg. He winced as I kicked him a few more times before he fell to his knees. I gave him an enziguri kick to the head before grabbing onto his legs and putting him into a sharpshooter, a tribute to my Canadian friends. I couldn't stop the smile from falling over my face as he hit the mat in agony. As we were in the middle of the ring, it was harder for him to get to the ropes. He was growing weak, and any attempt at getting to the sides, I would pull him back. He lasted longer than I thought he would before I stood, ending the move. I didn't give him a moment to rest as I crossed his legs around my leg before grabbing onto his arms. I maneuvered his chest a foot above the ring, and with the aid of my other foot, I crashed his upper body into the mat. But I was far from finished. I stomped onto his left leg a few times before climbing up onto the top of a turnbuckle. I glanced out around me, and with a smirk, I double stomped onto his one leg.

Punk roared in pain as he rolled around the ring, holding onto his leg in pain. I felt ecstatic that I could cause him the same pain he caused my leg. An eye for an eye as they did in the old days, though in this case, it was a leg for a leg.

"Come on Tess!" Alex cheered.

I shot him a look before glancing at Punk. He was in a corner, pulling his knee pad from his leg. I could tell he was in a lot of pain, and I couldn't be happier. I slipped the last Brass Knucks from my boots and put it on. I waited for a bit, catching my breath as Punk tried to get over the pain he was in. He drew himself to his feet, not noticing me behind him. As he turned, much like earlier, I slammed my fist into the side of his head. He stumbled backwards and into the corner. Without any hesitation, I shot him a super kick in the jaw.

He fell forward, fazed. I knew this was my moment. If I had any hope in winning this match I had to do it now. I slowly pulled Punk to his feet and dragged him to the turnbuckle. With all the strength I could muster, I pulled myself to the top rope, pulling him along with me. I set him up into his own finishing move, the Pepsi Plunge, and with one swift move, executed it perfectly. The crowd roared as I rolled him over and lay across him, hooking his leg.

"1…"

The next three seconds of my life went in slow motion. I prayed to god this was the end. I had fought so hard in the past year that this had to be the end. I needed this to be over and done with. I needed this war to be over. I thrived to be free of these reigns, of this man holding me back. It would never end unless I could win, or else he would follow me where I went. If I could win, I was guaranteed my life back. And I wanted that more than anything. I wanted to be able to go to ROH and not have to fear for their lives, for my own life. I wanted to be able to see my friends without wounds caused by these people. I wanted to be happy.

"2…"

Please let this be the end. I had never wanted anything so badly before. But I needed this to happen. It just had to. Not only for my sake, but for all of these people. The fans deserved a good product to watch. The wrestlers in the back deserved the chance to wrestle without having to look over their shoulders. My friends deserved to be able to not be on alert 24/7. I deserved to be able to smile finally, to live my life the way I wanted to.

"3!"

My eyes grew wide as the bell rang. I did it. I had really done it. The crowd was on their feet, cheering louder than I had ever heard them before. I didn't even realize the ref unlocking the cage door until I felt someone wrap their arms around me.

"I knew you could do it, I knew it!" Alex whispered into my ear as he attempted to wipe away some of the blood on my face using the towel he held.

Of course it was no use considering the gashes I held, but it didn't matter at all. Alex somehow managed to pull me to my feet, and while helping to keep me up, held my arm up in victory. I shot a glance over at the ref rolling Punk out of the ring. I smirked. He was gone. He wouldn't get the chance to harm my friends or family ever again.

I had finally won.

* * *

**A/N:** Heads up, the next chapter may be the last....depends on how i end up going about it. I'd just like to mention, my internet is gay and i want to destroy it....it took me sooooo long to get this posted cuz it kept messing up. grrrr stupid computer. oh the lyrics at the start are from Battlefield by Jordin Sparks, my new fav song :)


	139. Chapter One Hundred and Thirty Eight

**Chapter 138:**

"You did fantastic tonight Tess." Chris grinned from ear to ear as I lounged on the couch in the hotel room a few hours later.

I mumbled a response as I curled up beside Alex, whose arm was around me tightly. My head lay on his shoulder as I yawned tiredly. The night had been exhausting. Throw in the pain medication for my head, and I was just about ready to pass out. However, I forced myself to stay awake as Chris got ready to go out and celebrate with some of the X Division guys.

"Are you sure you don't want me to stay?" Chris asked hesitantly, biting his lip.

"I'm sure, go." I lifted my head to smile at him. "Tell Petey and Austin hi from me."

He chuckled before leaning over the side of he couch and kissing me on the forehead just above my stitches.

"Congratulations sweetie, you deserve this." He ruffled my hair.

"Have fun." I urged him.

"I will. Catch you two later." He waved before heading towards the door.

I rested my head back on Alex's shoulder as Chris left.

"We could have gone with if you wanted." Alex mentioned. "Could have seen all the guys."

"They left by the time my stitches were put in. If they gave a damn at all they would have stuck around." I frowned sadly.

"They care Tess." He assured me.

"Uh huh." I rolled my eyes.

Right after Alex had helped me from the ring after my win, Chris had hurried down to celebrate with us. Both men helped me to the back and brought me to the trainer's room. While I was being given stitches, a few of the guys, like Petey, Austin, and Jarrett, had come by to congratulate me. But afterwards, when I went out in search of the others, I couldn't find them at all. Their locker room was empty when I checked there, which broke my heart. I had just fought the biggest match of my career, ensuring that they would have a safe place to work, and none of them appeared to care. That hurt. I knew my decision was a big deal, but I didn't think it would completely ruin our relationship.

But, like true to what Alex assured me earlier in the night, he and Chris had been there. We had travelled back to the Hotel together, silently celebrating. As we made it up the elevator, we had caught back up with Petey who had asked us to go celebrate the PPV with the locker room. Being exhausted and in pain, I had declined. I insisted that Alex and Chris go without me; I didn't want to ruin their evening. But Alex refused and declared he would stay with me. Chris however, knowing Alex and I needed alone time together, decided to go out.

Which brought us to now. I had just beaten Punk a few hours ago, winning the war, and all I could think about was the kiss from earlier between Alex and I. I still couldn't shake the feelings I had felt the moment his lips touched mine. It amazed me how much one little kiss could make you feel. Just thinking about it my heart began to beat faster, my mind running in a thousand different directions. By kissing me, did that mean Alex felt the same towards me as I felt towards him? I could only assume that was the case, but I wasn't certain. Maybe it was just a heat of the moment sort of thing. Maybe Alex didn't hold any romantic feelings towards me at all. That would explain why he hadn't brought it up since.

"I gotta take a leak." Alex stated.

I pulled a face and laughed as I moved to let him off the couch. He jumped up and raced into the bathroom, leaving me alone in the room. I sighed as I stood and wandered out onto the balcony. The night was clear as I leaned against the railing, allowing the wind wash over me. I gazed up into the starry night and smiled. Everything seemed to have worked out in some capacity. Punk could no longer harm my friends. He was out of TNA now, as were the majority of his cronies. TNA would be able to flourish into an amazing promotion now. I was proud of that. I knew tomorrow I would have to announce my departure to the Impact Zone, and surprisingly I wasn't nervous. I knew this was the right thing to do. I could just feel it. For the first time in my life I was ready to go forward and take charge. I knew what I wanted, and I wasn't going to let anything stand in my way. I had spent a year and a half being miserable and fighting for my life. I deserved the chance to be happy finally. And I was able to finally pursue that.

"Watcha thinking about?" two arms slipped around my waist from behind, Alex's breath tickling my neck as he whispered into my ear.

"Tomorrow." I answered. "Alex?"

"Hm?"

"Do you think I'm making the right decision?" I asked, watching the silent night around us.

"I've seen you in PWG and ROH. You lit up the moment you stepped into that ring. I haven't seen you smile like that…well ever. You were happy, you know, around everything that happened." Alex sighed, remembering the incident that almost caused him his life. "But you were happy. I never saw you like that in TNA. And I know half the time you were fighting for your life here, and never had a real chance to just enjoy the place. But still, you were never this happy."

I nodded as I leaned back into his body, relishing in his warmth.

"I want you to be happy. So does everyone else. You deserve that. If not being in TNA anymore will make that beautiful smile appear on you face, than so be it."

I blushed at the comment.

"I care about you a lot, and while it'll suck to not wrestle in TNA with you, meh, we'll see each other all the time anyways. I want you to be happy, and the Indy's make you happy. Go pursue that. You can return in the future if you want to. But right now, just go be a happy 23 year old."

Everything he said I already knew. But I suppose having someone tell you what you're already thinking, it sets in easier.

"Thanks." I turned around in his arms, smiling up at him.

There was one last thing I had to take care of. I had defeated Punk, but now I had to concur my own feelings.

"Alex?"

"Yeah babe?" he tightened his hold around my waist.

"About that kiss earlier…"

His face fell. "You don't have to say anything. I didn't mean to kiss you. It just…it just happened I guess. Someone like you would never like someone like me anyways."

"Hey!" I grabbed onto his cheek, cupping it in my hand. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"You're a McMahon Tess, and I'm…well I'm not exactly the perfect suitor for a millionaire's daughter. Heck, you could be a billionaire's daughter for all I know."

I couldn't help but smile. He thought he wasn't good enough for me? He didn't have to ever worry about that. Personally I thought the opposite. I didn't think I was good enough for Alex. He deserved a sweet kind girl who wouldn't cause trouble. I on the other hand couldn't get away from the drama.

"Alex, I'm going to say this once, so you better listen. You are an amazing guy. Any girl would be lucky to have you." I paused. It was now or never. I could do this. "I would be lucky to have you."

He didn't seem to fully comprehend where I was going. So, taking matters into my own hand, I pulled his head down until my lips met his. He seemed surprised at first and didn't know what to do. However, as I deepened the kiss, he moaned, and pushed me up against the balcony railing. His hands travelled up and down my back, as my hands ran through his short hair. He briefly pulled back, regaining his breath, before beginning to make a trail of kisses down my neck and onto my shoulder. I shuddered as his lips touched my bare skin. It felt wonderful. The fireworks had returned, the sparks were flying. I felt like I was flying as he brought his mouth back up to meet mine. Everything seemed absolutely perfect now.

* * *

**A/N:** Alright, i lied, there's gonna be another chapter lol. I couldn't help it, i had to get the hotness in....and really....kissing Alex on a balcony is just hot...who wishes they could be in her positon? *raises hand*


	140. Chapter One Hundred and Thirty Nine

**Chapter 139:**

"Well that was one hell of a night." Alex mused as he twirled a piece of my brown hair. He glanced down at me as I lay in his arms, a grin on his face.

"I'm exhausted." I snuggled up against him.

"Well lets see, you kicked Punk's ass, and then had amazing sex with me…yep, that would ware someone out." He smirked. "Oh and then add in the multiple times we had sex after the first time."

I giggled, digging my head into his chest.

"Did we even sleep last night?" I asked, peeking up and seeing the sun beginning to rise.

"For like five minutes possibly. Then you wanted to go again." He teased.

I swatted his bare chest before propping myself up on an elbow. I looked down at him and smiled. He looked so adorable as he lay there naked with only the sheet covering his body. I never realized just what I felt towards the man until last night. After our kiss on the balcony we quickly had moved it inside. I don't even know how, but we managed to pull away from one another long enough to pull each other's clothes off. Of course that was an easy task. I was hungrily awaiting what was underneath his clothes. It had been the most amazing night. I don't think I had ever been with anyone else the way I had with Alex. It just felt…magical, as cheesy as that sounded. But it felt right. As I stared down at him, I couldn't help but just feel pure happiness.

"Your beautiful." He ran a hand down my cheek, trailing down my neck and shoulder.

"Stop, or else you'll turn me on again." I caught his hand and kissed it.

"No complaints there." His smirk grew.

I chuckled before untangling myself from him. He complained like a little child as I grabbed his shirt from last night. I slipped it on, winked at Alex, before disappearing into the bathroom. I glanced at myself in the mirror, and I was glad to see the smile back on my face. It had been a long time since my smile had met my blue eyes, but it finally had. I was happy; there wasn't any other way to explain it.

I hurriedly did my business, refreshing myself, before wandering out back into the bedroom. Noticing Alex wasn't in the bed, I looked around the room and smiled as I saw him out on the balcony watching the sun rise. I walked up behind him and wrapped my arms around his waist, much like he had done the night before. I heard him chuckle as he pulled me in front of him, wrapping his arms around me tightly.

"I love you." He murmured in my ear.

My heart began beating faster. We had only admitted our feelings for one another last night with our actions. Was it possible for him to already feel that way? Well I suppose it was as he had spoken those three words to me.

Love was the one thing I wished I could feel towards a man. I never did towards Daniels, and figured I would never get the chance. But I remembered what Stephanie had once told me about finding the one. She spoke of a feeling you had never felt before, the way your heart would stop, and your breath would be taken away. I had felt all of those things last night. I felt absolutely safe and happy when I was lying in Alex's arms this morning. For the first time in a very long time, I was happy.

So was this love?

I didn't even need to fully think that question through. I already knew the answer.

"I love you too."

* * *

I sighed as I stood backstage, waiting for my moment to head out into the impact zone. Alex stood at my side, holding onto my hand. I still couldn't believe that that morning we had told each other the three words every person strived to hear. But I didn't regretting speaking them. I really did feel that way towards Alex, and I knew he felt that way towards me.

We had spent the rest of the day just lazing around the room with one another. We talked, we laughed, and we even managed to sleep in the bed instead of fooling around. We never saw Chris until we reached the Impact Zone. I think he knew what would happen that night, and made sure he stayed away from the room. I mentally thanked him for whatever reason it was.

But it was time to finally announce to the world that I would be leaving TNA. I wasn't nervous per say, but I felt apprehensive. This would be the last moment I would stand in the TNA ring, and that sort of saddened me. While I knew I couldn't stay here, I couldn't help but remember everything that had happened the year and a half I was a part of this company.

"Time to go." Alex whispered into my ear, kissing my neck softly. "I'll be right here when you're done."

I nodded with a smile. As my music began playing, I kissed him on the lips before grabbing onto the microphone the stage hand held out, and heading up through the tunnel. I reached the stage and was blown away by the crowd cheering for me. The titantron behind me began playing a recap of the match last night, and I couldn't help but smirk as I slid into the ring. As the video finished playing, I stood in the middle of the ring and began.

"I think I speak for everyone when I say thank god that jackass is gone." I almost laughed as the crowd roared even louder. "He tried to ruin this company, a company that those men and women in the back built from the ground up. CM Punk tried in ever way to ruin my life, to ruin the lives of my friends and family, and to make sure none of you got the product you deserved."

The fans booed. They really did hate the man just as much as we all did in the back.

"But there's one thing that everyone should know by now. You never mess with a McMahon. Because in the end, we always get what we want. And I wanted you out Punk, and look what happened? I beat your ass in the middle of this ring with a 1…2…3" I smirked widely. "And now your gone, and without a job. Karma's a bitch huh?"

I paused for a moment as I took in the crowd. They were all on their feet as they hanged on every word I spoke. I would miss them. They were amazing, and really made TNA special. They had been behind me since the day I debuted, which I appreciated. They never judged me because I was a McMahon. They gave me a chance to shine on my own, and I did.

"I've done a lot of things here in TNA since I joined this company a year and a half ago. I kicked Jarrett's ass multiple times, helped Christopher Daniels win and lose a few titles, even managed to align with Team Canada, and now…now I have taken back the company that's always been ours." I inhaled sharply. This was it. "But unfortunately, this crazy ride has to come to an end at some point."

The fans silenced at that comment. They weren't expecting that.

"I've done just about everything in TNA. I won this title twice." I held up my knockouts title high into the air, receiving a few cheers. "I fought against the toughest men and women in this business. I made the greatest friends a person could ask for. I love TNA, and I can't praise this company enough. You the fans are amazing. You make TNA shine. Without you there would be no alternative. You come here week and support the wrestlers." I smiled. "Every single wrestler in the back has amazing talent. They are the hardest workers I've ever seen. They're some of the nicest, welcoming men and women you could possibly meet. Give or take a few."

I chuckled to myself as I paused.

"I made a lot of friends here, and I made a lot of enemies. But one thing I definitely did do, was make an Impact. But it's time for me to say goodbye." Boos rang through the Impact Zone. "It's time for me to move on. I gave back the control of TNA to all of you. I defeated Punk, and concurred myself along the way."

"I don't know if I'll be back. Never say never though. But this is my final time inside this six sided ring. I'm going to miss it. I'm going to everyone in the back. And most of all, I'm going to miss having the best wrestling fans cheer me on every week. But it's my time to go." I paused for a moment before continuing. "So thank you to everyone. Thank you to management for giving me a chance. Thank you to all of the wrestlers in the back for giving me one hell of a ride. And thank you to you all for never judging me. But all good things come to an end."

I breathed deeply, taking one good look around the Impact zone.

"I may be a McMahon, but TNA will always be my home."

With that, I laid the mic down in the middle of the ring. I gently lay my title down next to it, patting it lightly. I went to leave the ring, but I was shocked by what I saw. Members of the roster were coming down the Face ramp, clapping in respect. I felt touched as I saw Homicide and LAX, most of the X Division, Team Canada, Daniels, and even Jarrett walk down and circle the ring. I had to force back the tears I felt as Alex and Chris slid into the ring beside me. They shot me glances before grabbing my arms and raising them in victory.

This may have been the end of my time in TNA, but this was far from the end of my journey. I had a feeling that it was just beginning.

* * *

**A/N:** I thought i would end it Harry Potter style...you know its the end, but you can just tell theres more to come....lol

thank you for an amazing ride. This was probably my favorite/best story i've ever written. I'll always have a special place in my heart for it. I just can't believe its done. There's been times that i thought i would never finish this thing. But i finally have. thank you all for reading this story and sticking with it after all these years. i've gotten over 500 reviews! thats just crazy. i didn't think it would ever come this far, but it has. Thank you. you made this story something special, and i hope the sequel will meet up with all of your standards. expect it shortly....because i'm bored and feel the need to keep writing Tess/Alex scenes.

But for now, Black With A T is at it's close.


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